ROUND-UP OF RESEARCH
AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
SUE SHAPLAND RN, BN
Here we bring you some interesting research updates
from various sites around the world.
From the Barts MS Blog
(an excellent UK MS site overseen by Prof Gavin Giovannoni)
Can you reduce the chances
of your children getting MS?
This blog looked at the issue
and commented on the paper
below. It is interesting reading.
Obesity, particularly adolescent
obesity, is an MS risk factor.
The study below shows this
risk extends into childhood or
paediatric MS.
Distinct effects of obesity and puberty on risk and age at
onset of pediatric MS.
Chitnis et al. Ann; Clinical Translational Neurology. 2016 Nov
4;3(12):897-907.
The aim of this study was to examine the relative contributions
of body mass index (BMI) and pubertal measures for risk and
age of onset of paediatric MS.
This multi centred case-control study, in the US, included 254
(63% female) MS cases (onset 18 years of age) and 420 (49%
female) controls conducted at 14 U.S. Pediatric MS Centres.
Results: 11% of girls and 15% of boys were prepubertal at
MS onset. 80% of girls had onset of MS after menarche; BMI
percentiles were higher in MS cases versus controls. In girls
with MS onset after menarche, higher BMI was associated
with younger age at first symptoms and younger menarche
was associated with stronger effects of BMI. In pubertal/
post pubertal boys, 89% were obese/overweight, and earlier
sexual maturity was associated with earlier onset of MS.
Interpretation: Higher BMI in early adolescence is a risk
factor for MS in girls and boys. Earlier age sexual maturity
contributes to earlier age at MS onset, particularly in
association with obesity.
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Optimism and adaptation to chronic disease: The role of
optimism in relation to self-care options of type 1 diabetes
mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
Fournier et al.; British Journal Health Psychol. 2002 Nov;7
(Part 4):409-432.
Objectives: To determine the role of optimistic beliefs in
adaptation processes of three chronic diseases different in
controllability by self-care. It was expected that optimism
towards the future would relate to adaptation independently
of the controllability of disease. Optimism regarding one’s
coping ability should be beneficial in controllable diseases.
Unrealistic optimism was expected to be beneficial in
uncontrollable disease.
The study involved 104 patients with type 1 diabetes, 95
patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 98 patients with MS,
recruited through five hospitals.
Results: The study found that when chronic disease must be
controlled by self-care, physical health depends more strongly
on positive efficacy expectancies. In contrast, when self-care
options for controlling chronic disease are limited, physical
health depends more strongly on positive unrealistic thinking
and relates negatively to positive efficacy expectancies. The
impact of the three optimistic beliefs on mental health is
independent of the controllability by self-care.
Conclusion: Optimistic beliefs are differently beneficial for
physical health dependent on the controllability of chronic
disease. Unrealistic beliefs are helpful when patients are
confronted with moderately to largely uncontrollable disease
where self-care options are limited, in contrast to positive
efficacy expectancies that are helpful when patients deal with
largely controllable disease where self-care is required.
Read more at:
mswa.org.au/researchupdate
From MS Research Australia
(MSWA continues to provide a large contribution annually to
support MS Research in Australia)
Research Grants Awarded to Fight Progressive MS.
In 2013, the Progressive MS Alliance brought together MS
experts to identify the priorities to overcoming the barriers
to progress. The Alliance is now focused on four research
priority areas needed to provide the breakthrough treatments:
•
Better understand progression so we can identify and
test treatments
• Design shorter, faster trials that measure patient outcomes
• Conduct trials to test agents
• Develop and evaluate new therapies to manage symptoms
The International Progressive MS Alliance recently provided
three large multi-year grants to networks of some of the
world’s best MS researchers to lead the fight against
progressive MS. Each grant is for €4.2 million (A$5.8 million)
and will run over four years.
MS Research Australia’s support of International Progressive
MS Alliance is made possible by the generosity of some of our
funding partners including Foundation 5 Million+ and MSWA.
Epstein-Barr and MS Research by Prof Michael Pender
Prof Pender is based in Queensland and is investigating the
role of T cells and EBV (Epstein Barr Virus) in the development
of MS.
There is considerable evidence that EBV infection plays a role
in MS, but its exact role remains unclear. EBV usually causes
a non-specific viral illness in childhood, but also causes
glandular fever. Research has shown that approximately
90-95% of the population have been infected with EBV
during their life, whilst almost 100% of people with MS have
been infected.
Professor Pender and his research team are investigating
the differences in the immune systems of people with MS,
and how they interact with EBV. Results suggest that during
a relapse, and at the early onset of the disease, there is an
increase in the number of EBV-infected B cells. This research
may potentially result in another strategy to combat MS.
The power of big-data to guide treatment choices in MS.
Australian researchers Dr Tomas Kalincik, Professor Helmut
Butzkueven and their colleagues at the University of Melbourne
have been leaders of an international effort to use real-life,
long-term clinical data from people with multiple sclerosis to
guide treatment choices.
Analyzing MSbase data, collected from thousands of people
with MS, they hope to identify a more personalised approach
to treatments with individuals and their clinicians being able
to more rapidly determine their most appropriate treatment
choices based on the best-available evidence.
Thousands of patients in the database are carefully matched
by age, gender, disease course and treatments. This allows
them to be ‘followed’ using their data to review the outcomes
of different treatment choices.
The researchers have published a number of articles and
presented at many National and International MS Conferences.
World-first blood test to aid
prognosis and treatment of MS.
A major international study
is being led by Australian
researchers Dr Edwin Lim and
Professor Gilles Guillemin from
Macquarie University.
They discovered the first-ever
blood biomarker – a chemical
identifier in the blood – for distinguishing the different types
of MS; a very complex and varied disease where treatment
decisions can be challenging.
MS has three forms, relapsing-remitting MS, secondary
progressive MS and primary progressive MS. The various
forms have very different outcomes and treatment
implications.
Prof Guillemin commented, “This is a significant discovery
because it will facilitate the ability to quickly and simply
diagnose the three types of MS and will allow clinicians to
adapt their treatment for MS patients more accurately and
more rapidly.”
continued over >>
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From the UK MS Trust
Can ocrelizumab slow down disability in primary
progressive MS
Ocrelizumab is a new treatment which reduces the number of
B cells, a type of white blood cell, thought to be involved in the
abnormal immune response that attacks the myelin on nerve cells.
This study tested whether ocrelizumab could prevent an increase
in disability in people with primary progressive MS (PPMS).
732 people with PPMS took either ocrelizumab or a placebo
as an intravenous infusion (drip) every six months for at least
two years.
Fewer people taking ocrelizumab had increased disability,
compared to placebo. Comparing the two groups, people
taking ocrelizumab were 24% less likely to have an increase
in their disability than those taking placebo.
Infusion-related reactions, chest infections and oral herpes
were more frequent in the ocrelizumab group. Neoplasms
(which can be benign or malignant) developed in 2.3% of those
taking ocrelizumab, this included four cases of breast cancer.
compared with 0.8% of the placebo group. The results suggest
that ocrelizumab could slow down the progression of MS.
Ocrelizumab is also being approved as a treatment for
relapsing-remitting MS. Data showed that ocrelizumab
reduced the number of relapses by 50% compared to beta
interferon.
From Neurology / Neuroscience - Feb 9, 2017 Edition
Sleep helps recalibrate brain cells responsible for
learning and memory, mice study shows
Scientists at Johns Hopkins studying mice have identified
evidence that a key purpose of sleep is to recalibrate the brain
cells responsible for learning and memory. This allows the
animals to ‘solidify’ lessons learned and use them when they
awaken – in the case of nocturnal mice, the next evening. “Our
findings solidly advance the idea that the mouse and presumably
the human brain can only store so much information before it
needs to recalibrate,” says Graham Diering, Ph.D., who led the
study. “Without sleep and the recalibration that goes on during
sleep, memories are in danger of being lost.”
He also commented, “The bottom line is that sleep is not really
downtime for the brain. It has important work to do then, and
we in the developed world are shortchanging ourselves by
skimping on it.”
People living in neighbourhoods with more birds, shrubs
and trees less likely to suffer from mental health issues.
People living in neighbourhoods
with more birds, shrubs and
trees are less likely to suffer
from depression, anxiety and
stress, according to research
at the University of Exeter, the
British Trust for Ornithology and
the University of Queensland.
The study, involving hundreds of
people, found benefits for mental
health of being able to see birds, shrubs and trees around the
home, whether people lived in urban or more leafy suburbs.
The study, of over 270 people of different ages, incomes
and ethnicities, also found that those who spent less time
outdoors than usual in the previous week were more likely to
report they were anxious or depressed.
The positive association between birds, shrubs and trees
and better mental health applied, even after controlling for
variation in neighbourhood deprivation, household income,
age and a wide range of other socio-demographic factors.
From the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Study Finds That Some Family Members of People with
MS Show Possible Early Signs of the Disease without
Symptoms.
A large-scale “Genes & Environment in MS” (GEMS) study
seeks to understand factors that lead to the development of
MS. Researchers analysed the genes and backgrounds of
individuals without symptoms of MS, but with close family
members with MS.
Based on that analysis, researchers identified a group of 40
women at higher risk for developing MS, and 25 women at lower
risk. Extensive neurological testing and MRI scanning uncovered
possible neurological abnormalities in the higher risk group, and
MRI abnormalities in a small proportion of both groups.
Currently they are developing strategies to manage the risk
of MS, but there are not yet any specific recommendations.
Co-author Dr. Phillip De Jager said, “Family members should
be reassured that the vast majority of family members will
not develop MS.”
Want to access research articles?
Here are the places you can access up to date research
articles relating to multiple sclerosis:
• Vitality – Our monthly research focussed e-newsletter
• Our Website – https://mswa.org.au/news/latest-news
• Right here as part of your Member magazine Bulletin.
It includes great research articles and information every quarter.
Just email [email protected] if you would like any further information.
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