multiple sclerosis Archives - Dr Amin Azhari - دکتر امین اظهری

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Milk may exacerbate MS symptoms

Study by the University of Bonn: Cow’s milk protein triggers autoimmune response in mice that damages neurons
Multiple sclerosis sufferers often complain of more severe disease symptoms after consuming dairy products. Researchers at the Universities of Bonn and Erlangen-Nuremberg have now found a possible cause for this. According to the study, a protein in cow’s milk can trigger inflammation that targets the “insulating layer” around nerve cells. The study was able to demonstrate this link in mice, but also found evidence of a similar mechanism in humans. The researchers therefore recommend that certain groups of sufferers avoid dairy products. The study has now been published in the journal PNAS(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

Release date: 01 March 2022
Source: University of Bonn

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Meat, Multiple Sclerosis, and the Microbiome

Studying the connections between meat, gut bacteria, and autoimmune attacks on the nervous system. Eating more meat, having less of certain bacteria in the gut, and more of certain immune cells in the blood, all link with multiple sclerosis, reports a team of researchers led by UConn Health and the Washington University School of Medicine. The work, published in issue of EBioMedicine, teased out subtle connections that could lead to a better understanding of the causes of the disease.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease affecting fewer than 3 million people worldwide but costing $28 billion annually in the US alone—and untold suffering. MS is more prevalent in specific regions, particularly the northern mid-latitudes, suggesting that geography is somehow linked to the disease, perhaps involving diet. But teasing out the exact relationships between diet, immune response, and MS has been difficult. MS is most obviously an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks the insulation surrounding its nerves. When the insulation is damaged enough, the nerves begin to misfire and malfunction like wires with frayed insulation. But what triggers the body to attack the insulation in the nervous system in the first place is unknown.

More and more evidence has suggested that bacteria might be involved. The bacteria living in our guts can affect our immune system. And what we eat can affect the bacteria in our guts. Dr. Yanjiao Zhou at UConn Health School of Medicine collaborated with Dr. Laura Piccio from Washington University and now at the University of Sydney to study the gut microbiome, immune systems, diet, and blood metabolites in 49 volunteers—25 MS patients and 24 healthy controls—to look for correlations that might be subtle but important.

The strongest systemic linkage the researchers found involved eating meat. Their analysis linked higher meat consumption to a decrease in the population of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron in people’s gut ecology. B. thetaiotaomicron is associated with digesting carbohydrates from vegetables.

Higher meat consumption, which was observed in the MS patients, was also linked to an increase in T-helper 17 cells in the immune system, and an increase in S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) in their blood.

The relationship between meat-eating and disability and the other factors was not deterministic; some healthy people eat a lot of meat. But the pattern of all the factors was suggestive that, in MS, something goes wrong with people’s gut bacteria that dissociates them from the immune system, leading to heightened T-helper 17 cells and autoimmune attacks on the nervous system. And it tends to be associated with eating meat.

Release date: 27 January 2022
Source: University of Connecticut

Epstein-Barr virus may be leading cause of multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a progressive disease that affects 2.8 million people worldwide and for which there is no definitive cure, is likely caused by infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), according to a study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers.

Their findings were published online in Science.

“The hypothesis that EBV causes MS has been investigated by our group and others for several years, but this is the first study providing compelling evidence of causality,” said Alberto Ascherio, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard Chan School and senior author of the study. “This is a big step because it suggests that most MS cases could be prevented by stopping EBV infection, and that targeting EBV could lead to the discovery of a cure for MS.”

MS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that attacks the myelin sheaths protecting neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Its cause is not known, yet one of the top suspects is EBV, a herpes virus that can cause infectious mononucleosis and establishes a latent, lifelong infection of the host. Establishing a causal relationship between the virus and the disease has been difficult because EBV infects approximately 95% of adults, MS is a relatively rare disease, and the onset of MS symptoms begins about 10 years after EBV infection. To determine the connection between EBV and MS, the researchers conducted a study among more than 10 million young adults on active duty in the U.S. military and identified 955 who were diagnosed with MS during their period of service.

Release date: 13 January 2022
Source: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Probiotics improve nausea and vomiting in pregnancy

Findings also provide clues to why some people experience more stomach upset during pregnancy. In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine found that probiotics significantly improve the symptoms of pregnancy-related nausea, vomiting and constipation. The findings were published in the journal Nutrients.

Nausea and vomiting affect about 85% of pregnancies and can significantly impact quality of life, particularly during early pregnancy.

Probiotics are thought to support the community of different microbes, often referred to as the “gut microbiome,” found in the gastrointestinal tract.

During pregnancy, hormones like estrogen and progesterone increase, bringing about many physical changes. These increases can also change the gut microbiome, which likely affects the digestive system functions and causes unwanted symptoms like nausea, vomiting and constipation.

The study lasted for 16 days. A total of 32 participants took a probiotic capsule twice a day for six days and then took two days off. They then repeated the cycle.

The probiotics were available over-the-counter and mainly contained Lactobacillus, a type of good bacteria. Each capsule contained approximately 10 billion live cultures at the time of manufacture.

Participants kept 17 daily observations of their symptoms during the duration of the study, for a total of 535 observations for the researchers to statistically assess.

What the researchers found was that taking the probiotic significantly reduced nausea and vomiting. Nausea hours (the number of hours participants felt nauseous) were reduced by 16%, and the number of times they vomited was reduced by 33%. Probiotic intake also significantly improved symptoms related to quality of life, such as fatigue, poor appetite and difficulty maintaining normal social activities, as scored by questionnaires.

Probiotics were also found to reduce constipation significantly.

Release date: 02 December 2021
Source: University of California – Davis Health

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Sunshine May Shield Children, Young Adults from Multiple Sclerosis

Exposure to UV Rays Boost Vitamin D, May Protect Against Auto-Immune Disease. Living in sunny locations and spending time outdoors may raise the risk for skin cancer, but a new study led by UC San Francisco and the Australian National University shows that in children and young adults, sun exposure may protect against multiple sclerosis. The study follows previous work by other researchers that has demonstrated an association between increased ultraviolet exposure in childhood and lower odds of adult MS.

The study included 332 participants aged between 3 to 22, who had had MS for an average of seven months. Their locations and amount of sun exposure were matched by age and sex to 534 participants without MS, the researchers reported in their study, which publishes in the online issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

In questionnaires filled in by participants with MS or their parents, 19 percent stated that they spent less than 30 minutes daily outdoors during the previous summer, compared to 6 percent of those who did not have MS. When the researchers adjusted for MS risks, like smoking and female sex, they found that the participants who spent an average of 30 minutes to one hour outdoors daily had a 52 percent lower chance of MS, compared to those who spent an average of less than 30 minutes outdoors daily.

Limited sun exposure and/or low levels of vitamin D have been associated with other conditions. These include Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia, as well as schizophrenia and other auto-immune diseases like Type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s disease and lupus.

Release date: 08 December 2021
Source: University of California – San Francisco

Fighting multiple sclerosis with cold

Scientists at UNIGE are demonstrating how cold could alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis by depriving the immune system of its energy.

In evolutionary biology, the “Life History Theory”, first proposed in the 1950s, postulates that when the environment is favourable, the resources used by any organism are devoted for growth and reproduction. Conversely, in a hostile environment, resources are transferred to so-called maintenance programmes, such as energy conservation and defence against external attacks. Scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) developed this idea to a specific field of medicine: the erroneous activation of the immune system that causes autoimmune diseases. By studying mice suffering from a model of multiple sclerosis, the research team succeeded in deciphering how exposure to cold pushed the organism to divert its resources from the immune system towards maintaining body heat. Indeed, during cold, the immune system decreased its harmful activity which considerably attenuated the course of the autoimmune disease. These results, highlighted on the cover of the journal Cell Metabolism, pave the way for a fundamental biological concept on the allocation of energy resources.

Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system attacks the body own organs. Type 1 diabetes, for example, is caused by the erroneous destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic cells. Multiple sclerosis is the most common autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (consisting of the brain and spinal cord). The disease is characterised by the destruction of the myelin, which is a protective insulation of nerve cells and is important for the correct and fast transmission of electrical signals. Its destruction thus leads to neurological disability, including paralysis.

Release date: 22 October 2021
Source: Université de Genève

A plant-based diet combined with a healthy microbiome may protect against multiple sclerosis

The study shows that a diet rich in isoflavone, a phytoestrogen or plant-based compound that resembles estrogen, protects against multiple sclerosis-like symptoms in a mouse model of the disease. Importantly, the isoflavone diet was only protective when the mice had gut microbes capable of breaking down the isoflavones. The findings were published in Science Advances.

A new University of Iowa study suggests that metabolism of plant-based dietary substances by specific gut bacteria, which are lacking in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), may provide protection against the disease.

Isoflavones are found in soybeans, peanuts, chickpeas and other legumes. The study also found that mice fed the isoflavone diet have a microbiome that is similar to the microbiome found in healthy people and includes the bacteria which can metabolize isoflavones. Conversely, a diet lacking isoflavones promotes a microbiome in mice which is similar to one observed in patients with MS and lacks beneficial bacteria that can metabolize isoflavone.

Release date: 12 July 2021
Source: University of Iowa Health Care

In many cases, multiple sclerosis starts long before the diagnosis

Years before they are diagnosed, persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) make significantly more visits to doctors and hospitals than others. Specialists have recently discussed whether this might represent a preliminary phase of MS – known as a prodrome. A research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now published results of a study suggesting that, in many cases, the complaints may relate to unrecognized early clinical MS events.

Persons suffering from the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis can develop various neurological symptoms caused by damage to the nervous system. Especially in early stages, these may include sensory dysfunction such as numbness or visual disturbances. In most patients, MS starts with recurring episodes of neurological disability, called relapses or demyelinating events. These clinical events are followed by a partial or complete remission. Especially in the beginning, the symptoms vary widely, so that it is often difficult even for experienced doctors to interpret them correctly to arrive at a diagnosis of MS. Neurology

Release date: 21 Jun 2021
Source: Technical University of Munich (TUM)

Fatty acid may help combat multiple sclerosis

The abnormal immune system response that causes multiple sclerosis (MS) by attacking and damaging the central nervous system can be triggered by the lack of a specific fatty acid in fat tissue, according to a new Yale study. The finding suggests that dietary change might help treat some people with the autoimmune disease.

The study was published Jan. 19 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Fat tissue in patients diagnosed with MS lack normal levels of oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid found at high levels in, for instance, cooking oils, meats (beef, chicken, and pork), cheese, nuts, sunflower seeds, eggs, pasta, milk, olives, and avocados, according to the study.

This lack of oleic acids leads to a loss of the metabolic sensors that activate T cells, that mediate the immune system’s response to infectious disease, the Yale team found. Without the suppressing effects of these regulatory T cells, the immune system can attack healthy central nervous system cells and cause the vision loss, pain, lack of coordination and other debilitating symptoms of MS.

When researchers introduced oleic acids into the fatty tissue of MS patients in laboratory experiments, levels of regulatory T cells increased, they found.

Release date: 19 January 2021
Source: Yale University

Public Health

Tag team gut bacteria worsen symptoms of multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the myelin that covers the nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord. Demyelination affects how rapidly neurons communicate with each other and with muscles, causing a variety of symptoms including numbness, weak muscles, tremors, and the inability to walk. Gut microorganisms have been reported to affect symptoms of multiple sclerosis, but how bacteria in the intestines can affect myelin of the brain and spinal cord remained a mystery.

Researchers led by Hiroshi Ohno at RIKEN IMS set out find this connection using a mouse model of the disease. These mice experience similar demyelination of the spinal cord that results from autoimmune attacks by T cells that produce the cytokine IL-17A. However, giving these mice the antibiotic ampicillin reduced demyelination. The treatment also prevented the activation of a particular type of T cell. As Ohno explains, “we found that treatment with ampicillin, and only ampicillin, selectively reduced activity of T cells that attack an important protein called myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein [MOG], which helps myelin stick to neurons.”

Release date: 27 August 2020

Source: RIKEN

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