Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that is hard to treat because of nature in which the body fails to identify itself and starts to destroy itself. The immune system of a MS patient initiates the destruction of the myelin layer around the nerves of the spinal cord, brain and nerves. The breakthrough in the first trial treatment to reset the immune system of MS patients was successful with the research therapy capable of reducing the immune systems reactivity to myelin by up to 75%. When the insulation of the nerves is destroyed, electrical signals transmission is negatively impacted leading to undesirable symptoms such as numbness, blindness and paralysis. The study is a collaborative exercise between three universities that as conducted in Millers lab. The study used the patient’s white blood cells to produce billions of myelin antigens that are not considered harmful to the immune system. The study involved specialized filtering and coupling of patient’s white blood cells with myelin antigens in a process known as GMP manufacturing (Andrei, 2013).
Conventional therapies used in the treatment of MS render the patients susceptible to other kind of infections including cancer. The intravenous administration of over three billion white blood cells with myelin antigens caused no considerable effects in MS patients. It neither had no effect on reactivating the disease nor affects the immune system. As a result, the therapy is a principal finding because it is able to stop the already activated autoimmune responses and prevent the occurrence of new activations. Likewise, the research is entirely relevant because it demonstrates the safety and tolerability of the treatment.
Phase 1 is considered a significant breakthrough and paves the way for the second phase where research is ongoing on the treatment of the patient as early as possible before the disease progress to advanced stages damaging the myelin. Phase 2 trials are set to commence once the $1.5 million has been raised with the aim of stopping the progression of MS in humans. It is, however, not restricted to MS alone as the research is geared towards the treatment of a host of other autoimmune and allergic ailments such as asthma, type 1 diabetes and peanut allergy. Through the switching of antigens attached to the cells, the therapy has been considered effective for the treatment of such diseases as recently published in Millers research. The MS human trial is related to the mice research published by miller that substituted a patient’s white blood cells with nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are less costly and easily accessible to a greater mass and can be equally effective as white blood cells. The Nanoparticle technology is gaining traction having being licensed to Cour Pharmaceutical Development Company (Andrei, 2013).
Miller’s research is a fundamental pillar to the Northwestern University Strategic Plan and other institutions that desire to develop new ways of treating ailments and develop brilliant ideas in the medical and biotechnology fields capable of translating into usable products that changes the world order and makes it a better place to live (Andrei, 2013).
References
Andrei, M. (2013, June 10 ). Big breakthrough in Multiple Sclerosis – man-first study shows promise. ZME SCIENCE-Diseases, health and medicine.
Northwestern University (2013, June 5). Multiple sclerosis: Phase 1 trial safely resets patients' immune systems, reduces attack on myelin protein. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 29, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2013/06/130605144312.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed
Lutterotti, S. Yousef, A. Sputtek, K. H. Sturner, J.-P. Stellmann, P. Breiden, S. Reinhardt, C. Schulze, M. Bester, C. Heesen, S. Schippling, S. D. Miller, M. Sospedra, R. Martin. Antigen-Specific Tolerance by Autologous Myelin Peptide-Coupled Cells: A Phase 1 Trial in Multiple Sclerosis. Science Translational Medicine, 2013; 5 (188): 188ra75 DOI: Retrieved June 29, 2013, from 10.1126/scitranslmed.3006168
