Category: Multiple Sclerosis

Stem Cells for Multiple Sclerosis: Unlocking Hope for Nerve Repair
Stem cells could repair myelin in nerve cells and in the future could be used to generate new nerve cells. Stem cells do not yet cure multiple sclerosis. But they could slow down, stop, or even reverse the progression of the disease.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s immune system begins to attack and destroy myelin sheaths. When neurons become demyelinated, they stop transmitting signals correctly and begin to die. This causes the symptoms of MS.

Brain stem cells naturally tend to repair and replenish damaged myelin. But the immune system of MS patients attacks it again.

Currently, there are no cell replacement therapies for MS, but there are promising studies using stem cells to “reboot” the patient’s immune system.

Researchers want to use stem cells to study MS and find ways to prevent or repair myelin damage.

Some studies propose using chemotherapy to destroy a person’s immune system and, in a second phase, using stem cells to create a new immune system that does not attack myelin.

Clinical trials registered in the ICH GCP U.S. Clinical Trials Registry have yielded positive results and are now available as a treatment for MS patients who do not respond to the best disease-modifying treatments.

Researchers are studying treatments and drugs that harness, or even enhance, the natural ability of stem cells to repair myelin.

They are also trying to develop stem cell treatments to replace nerves destroyed by various neurological diseases, including MS.