Henri Meijering (senior project manager at Ardena) recently co-authored a scientific article published by Clinical and Translational Science (March 2022) about Kinetics of myelin breakdown products: A labelling study in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects millions of individuals worldwide and is the most common autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system (with estimated 2 million patients). Despite the fact that the disease has been known for more than 180 years, the exact pathophysiology of the disease is not clear. MS is primarily an inflammatory disorder of the brain and spinal cord in which focal lymphocytic infiltration leads to damage of myelin (demyelination) and axons. The majority of the available disease-modifying therapies for MS reduce inflammation. However, these therapies do not enhance remyelination and at best attenuate neuronal degeneration which will therefore still progress, leading to progressive disability in MS.
Development of compounds that stimulate remyelination is seen as an important target for drug development. Examples of such compounds are anti-LINGO antibodies, rHIgM22 antibodies, Olesoxime, and Quetiapine fumarate. The most direct way to demonstrate pharmacological effects of these compounds in future proof-of-concept studies is the quantification of myelin formation or remyelination.
Read the full news item of Ardena on the ASCPT website.
