UIC Tests Diabetes Drug In Treatment Of Multiple Sclerosis
From: JWissmille (jwissmille_at_aol.com)
Date: 06/21/04
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Date: 21 Jun 2004 01:45:20 GMT
http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=40596
UIC Tests Diabetes Drug In Treatment Of Multiple Sclerosis
6/7/2004
Source: University of Illinois at Chicago
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.
###
Contact: Sharon Butler
sbutler@uic.edu
312-355-2522
University of Illinois at Chicago
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