| Newswise — Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago
are launching a clinical trial to determine whether a drug commonly
used for diabetes might be effective in treating multiple sclerosis,
an autoimmune disease that affects 350,000 Americans. In an animal
model of the disease, the researchers found that the drug reduced
the inflammation of nervous tissue that occurs with multiple
sclerosis and prevented the aberrant immune response that ends up
destroying the body's own brain and spinal cord.
"At present, few medications have been approved by the Food and
Drug Administration for the treatment of multiple sclerosis," said
Douglas Feinstein, associate professor of anesthesiology in the UIC
College of Medicine. "These drugs are only partially effective, and
none helps significantly in the later, progressive forms of the
disease. The drugs also have undesirable side effects, and they need
to be injected, making them difficult to administer."
The drug being tested, called pioglitazone, is prescribed for the
treatment of type 2 diabetes. Marketed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals
North America, pioglitazone "sensitizes" the body's cells to
insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas that lets sugar into
cells so that it can be converted into energy. People with type 2
diabetes are unable to use insulin efficiently, leading to elevated
blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) and tissue damage.
Research has shown that drugs like pioglitazone not only raise
the levels of certain proteins involved in the uptake and metabolism
of glucose but also lower the levels of other molecules involved in
the immune response and inflammation.
"It is amazing that this drug, at least in animal tests, has
shown a dramatic effect on two different targets of multiple
sclerosis, namely the immune system and the inflammation process,"
Feinstein said.
Feinstein also noted that the drug is available as a tablet,
simplifying its administration.
The clinical trial will enroll about 30 patients with relapsing
remitting multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease.
People with this type of multiple sclerosis experience episodes of
acute worsening of neurological function, followed by partial or
complete recovery. In most patients, the disease will eventually
change into a chronic, persistent form, with symptoms worsening
throughout life.
Participants in the trial will take a 30-milligram dose of
pioglitazone daily for a period of 18 months, during which they will
be monitored for any side effects or changes in their symptoms.
"At this stage in the drug trial, we are simply trying to
determine whether the drug is safe and can be tolerated by people
with multiple sclerosis," Feinstein said. "But we'll also be doing
neurological examinations and biochemical analyses of blood samples,
looking for signs of inflammation and immune cell activation to
determine whether the drug is having any effect on symptoms of the
disease."
Employing UIC's state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging
technology, the researchers will do a series of three brain scans
over the course of the trial to look for changes in the cerebral
lesions associated with multiple sclerosis.
In multiple sclerosis, the T cells of the immune system go awry,
attacking proteins in the myelin sheath that insulates the nerve
fibers. When the sheath is destroyed, electrical signals that are
normally transmitted throughout the brain and spinal cord are
disrupted, and the brain is no longer able to correctly send or
receive the messages that help control muscle movements.
Patients with multiple sclerosis suffer a range of symptoms,
including tingling and numbness, loss of balance, blurry vision,
weakness in the limbs, difficulty walking, impaired thinking and
even paralysis. The disease affects women about twice as often as
men.
In the United States, health care costs for multiple sclerosis
are second only to those for Alzheimer's disease.
Co-directors of the UIC study are Drs. Daniel Hier and Demetrios
Skias, in the department of neurology at UIC, and Dr. Dusan
Stefoskil, director of the multiple sclerosis clinic at Rush
University Medical Center.
The study is funded by Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.
For more information about the UIC College of Medicine, visit
http://www.uic.edu/depts/mcam/ |
