• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Articles
    • Children’s Health
    • Diseases & Conditions
    • Healthy Living
    • Men’s Health
    • Sexual Health
    • Women’s Health
  • Books
    • Children’s Health
    • Diseases & Conditions
    • Healthy Living
    • Men’s Health
    • Sexual Health
    • Women’s Health
  • Videos
    • Children’s Health
    • Diseases & Conditions
    • Healthy Living
    • Men’s Health
    • Sexual Health
    • Women’s Health
  • About
  • Contact

Preventive Medicine Daily

Your source for the latest news on preventive medicine and public health

  • News
  • Diseases & Conditions
    • Blood
    • Cancer
    • Circulatory System
    • Congenital
    • Digestive System
    • Ear
    • Endocrine
    • Eye
    • Genitourinary
    • Infectious Diseases
    • Injuries
    • Mental Disorders
    • Metabolic Diseases
    • Musculoskeletal
    • Nervous System
    • Respiratory System
    • Skin
  • Healthy Living
    • Addictions
    • Children’s Health
    • Men’s Health
    • Women’s Health
      • Pregnancy
      • Childbirth
    • Sexual Health
    • Exercise
    • Nutrition

Nervous System

Age-Related Effects Of Multiple Sclerosis May Be Reversible

January 14, 2012 By pmdaily Leave a Comment

Harvard stem cell researchers and scientists at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom have found that the age-related degeneration in conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) may be reversible.

The researchers, co-led by Associate Professor Amy Wagers of Harvard’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, have found that impairment of the body’s ability to replace protective myelin sheaths, which surround nerve fibers and allow them to send signals properly, may be reversible, offering new hope that therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring efficient regeneration can be effective in the central nervous system throughout life.

In a proof-of-principle study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, the researchers report that defects in the regeneration of the myelin sheaths surrounding nerves, which are lost in diseases such as MS, may be at least partially corrected after exposing an old animal to the circulatory system of a young animal. Myelin is a fatty substance that protects nerves and aids in the quick transmission of signals between nerve cells.

Using a surgical technique, the researchers introduced an experimental demyelinating injury in the spinal cord of an old mouse, creating small areas of myelin loss, and then exposed those areas to cells found in the blood of a young mouse. By doing so, they found that the influx of certain immune cells, called macrophages, from the young mouse helped resident stem cells restore effective remyelination in the old mouse’s spinal cord. This rejuvenating effect of young immune cells was aided in part by the greater efficiency of the young cells in clearing away myelin debris created by the demyelinating injury. Prior studies have shown that this debris impedes the regeneration of myelin.

“Aging impairs regenerative potential in the central nervous system,” said Wagers, who is based at the Joslin Diabetes Center, and who co-led the study with Professor Robin Franklin, director of the MS Society’s Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair at the University of Cambridge. “This impairment can be reversed, however, suggesting that the eventual development of cell-based or drug-based interventions that mimic the rejuvenation signals found in our study could be used therapeutically.”

This could be particularly useful, she said, in treating MS, which typically spans many decades of life, and thus is likely to be influenced by age-dependent reductions in the ability of myelin to regenerate. In MS, the body’s own immune system attacks the myelin sheath and prevents nerve fibers in the brain from sending signals properly, which can cause mild symptoms such as limb numbness or more serious ones like losing the ability to walk or speak. As people with MS age, remyelination decreases significantly, eventually causing permanent loss of nerve fibers.

“For MS sufferers,” said Franklin, “this means that, in theory, regenerative therapies will work throughout the duration of the disease. Specifically, it means that remyelination therapies do not need to be based on stem cell transplantation, since the stem cells already present in the brain and spinal cord can be made to regenerate myelin, regardless of a person’s age.”

Other Harvard co-authors of the study were Tata Nageswara Rao and Jennifer L. Shadrach of Wagers’ lab.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard Medical School.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of PreventiveMedicineDaily or its staff.

Filed Under: Nervous System Tagged With: age-related degeneration, MS-Multiple Sclerosis

Primary Sidebar

RSS
Follow by Email
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Tweet

Recent posts

How Many Carbs Per Day On A Keto Diet?

How many carbs should I eat per day if I am on a keto diet? This is a very frequent question we … [Read More...] about How Many Carbs Per Day On A Keto Diet?

Pairing Protein and Carbs for Better Nutrition

Healthy carb choices plus healthy protein choices work together for a better and more balanced … [Read More...] about Pairing Protein and Carbs for Better Nutrition

Measles cases at ‘alarmingly’ high levels around the world, UNICEF says

Measles cases at ‘alarmingly’ high levels around the world, UNICEF says CNN News February 28, 2019 … [Read More...] about Measles cases at ‘alarmingly’ high levels around the world, UNICEF says

  • A Trial for Prevention of Loss of the Effect of Biological Drugs in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • Mediterranean diets reduce risk of heart disease – new research shows
  • Why being deficient in vitamin C puts you at extreme risk of various diseases
  • Canadian children still not getting enough vitamin D… cancer rates continue to climb

RSS Latest Public Health Headlines

  • WHO and UNICEF issue new guidance to promote breastfeeding in health facilities globally
  • WHO concerned about suspected chemical attacks in Syria
  • Nearly one billion people in Africa to be protected against yellow fever by 2026
  • WHO at 70 - working for better health for everyone, everywhere
  • Donors pledge over US$ 15 million to WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies

Footer

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

Copyright 2020 PreventiveMedicineDaily.com | Privacy | Terms | DMCA | Disclaimer