![]() Progressive MS develops over time as a result of a failure to repair myelin. Myelin is a fatty layer of insulation covering cells and is responsible for rapid communication between nerve cells. Over time, the immune system’s sustained attack damages nerve cells’ protective myelin shells and produces lesions. Several ongoing clinical studies, including the RAM-MS, BEAT-MS, and StarMS trials, hope to shine a light on how HSCT stacks up against available therapies. Thus, clinicians currently only offer HSCT to individuals with active MS where available treatments have failed. While this may be acceptable in the face of deadly cancers, it is a big risk for people with a disease like MS. Crucially, the intense immune suppression inherent to the procedure is associated with a three to five percent mortality rate (2). Most studies of HSCTs are observational cohort studies, and the dearth of clinical studies that directly compare HSCT with other approved therapies hinders understanding of the benefits of the procedure. Evidence suggests that HSCT is most effective for the niche of patients early in their disease course when the immune system is most active, such as in the case of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) (2). The removal of the destructive immune cells paves the way for a new and improved immune repertoire, including naïve T cells, which help suppress inflammatory disease activity. Indeed, there is evidence that following the elimination of adaptive and innate immune cells, HSCs progressively rebuild the immune system (1). The rationale behind HSCT for MS is that it provides a tune-up by wiping out the faulty immune system and starting anew. Researchers think that a failure in the braking system of proinflammatory pathways leads to brain inflammation. In MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks nerve cells in the brain. Now, scientists are investigating HSCT for treating MS. Researchers originally developed a procedure called HSC transplantation (HSCT), which involves harvesting HSCs from a patient’s bone marrow followed by intense immune cell depletion and HSC reintroduction, to treat blood cancers. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) originate from bone marrow to replenish blood cells. “Stem cell” is a catchall term for any cell that can differentiate into another cell type. Stem cell therapies for MS first emerged as promising candidates nearly two decades ago, but their success in the clinic has been limited, and public misunderstanding of these therapies threatens their legitimacy. However, there is no cure for MS, and very few treatment options exist for patients with advanced forms of the disease. ![]() Despite advancements in our understanding of the causes of multiple sclerosis (MS), a narrow selection of treatment options are available for the wide range of patient experiences.Īggressive treatment with immune-modifying drugs early in the disease course can mitigate the wear and tear of MS by reducing relapse and slowing down the body’s attack on brain cells. For others, it is a slow, smoldering progression. ![]() “They were leaner, had improved bone density and muscle strength and had a younger-looking immune system, among other benefits,” says Yadav.For some people, the attacks start as sudden and recurring. They also had lower hallmarks of ageing, such as reduced DNA damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. On average, these mice lived up to 12 per cent longer than those that weren’t given taurine. They therefore gave daily taurine supplements to 14-month-old mice, the equivalent age of a person between 45 and 50 years old. Next, the researchers wanted to see if reversing taurine’s decline could improve the animals’ health as they aged and potentially extend their lifespan. In a separate analysis of nearly 12,000 60-year-olds, higher taurine levels correlated with various markers of better health, including a lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes and reduced inflammation. Among the human participants, those aged around 65 had taurine levels that were more than 80 per cent lower than those of the study’s infant participants. To learn more, Vijay Yadav at Columbia University in New York and his colleagues measured taurine concentrations in the blood of mice, monkeys and humans, finding that its levels declined as they all aged.
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