Researchers from the Center for Brain Research at the Medical University of Vienna has documented, for the first time in history, the pathological progress of multiple sclerosis wherein they were able to document the inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes that happen.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS), according to the National MS Society, is an unpredictable and disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and vice versa. The treatment and cure for MS is still unknown. MS affects around 2.3 million people worldwide and mostly, people who are ages 20 and 50 are more prone to the disease but it can occur in young children and older adults too.
In MS, the insulating layers of nerve fibers are altered and damaged by inflammation in the central nervous system. Chronic inflammation involving the parts of the nervous system is thought to be the culprit in its occurrence.
However, some mechanism and patho-physiology in advanced stages of the disease are still not well explained and studied. Hence, treatment for those who are in the advanced stage of the disease is still limited.
Also, the etiology of the disease is still unknown but some theories point out that it may be caused by a pathogen causing infection and inflammation or an autoimmune disease.
Yet, the new study as reported by Medical News Today, suggests that the inflammatory process is the key culprit in the onset of the disease as well as in the later stages. They say inflammation acts as a 'driving force' in the later phases of the disease.
However, in the late stage of the disease, they mapped that amplification mechanisms are started and they provoke or induce a destructive cycle that leads to increased damage to the nervous system.
The neurodegenerative damage in the brain activates microglial cells that drive the disease forward to a later stage. Oxygen radicals start to form and they damage lipids and proteins in the brain. Also, the mitochondria become destroyed and along with brain aging that happens normally, and deposition of iron, more damage occurs. Hence, the integrity of the nervous system is altered.
Study leader Hans Lassmann, head of the Department of Neuroimmunology at the Medical University of Vienna, explains, "The inflammatory process, which can be treated effectively in the early stages, becomes less pronounced with age. However, the neurodegenerative damage increases. This also explains why drugs that initially work well later lose their effectiveness."
The researchers are positive that their discovery can help in the development of new treatments for MS.
"First, drugs could be developed that have an anti-inflammatory effect in the brain too, not just suppressing the defense response in the blood and lymphatic organs. Secondly, neuroprotective treatments could be developed that preventively block the amplification mechanisms and damage to the mitochondria, thereby preventing consequential damage."