First origin of multiple sclerosis

Researchers find evidence of the development of multiple sclerosis

15/11/2014

Despite years of research, the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS) is still unclear. German scientists have now been able to identify a cell that could have a significant importance in the development of chronic inflammatory disease.

Cause for MS still not clarified
The exact causes of the chronic inflammatory disease Multiple sclerosis (MS) are still not clarified despite years of research. However, a team of researchers from neurologists and immunologists at the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus and colleagues in neuropathology at the University Hospital Göttingen have now succeeded in identifying a cell that could have a significant impact on the development of the disease. The results of the scientists were now in the journal „Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation“ released.

Attention has so far been on the T cells
The „Doctors newspaper“ writes that "the focus of the scientists so far mainly on the T cells and their interactions" was. However, it has now been possible "to take a step backwards in the causal chain, according to which so-called slan dendritic cells (slanDC) are involved in the activation of T cells in the brain and thus contribute to the MS-associated autoimmune reaction". As reported by the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, the research team has shown in humans that the number of slanDC in tissue is higher the more the inflammation in the brain has progressed.

Cells promote inflammation
Dresdner immunologists have already described in earlier studies that the slendens dendritic cells promote inflammation. According to the report, slanDCs activate the production of large quantities of proinflammatory cytokines and promote the differentiation of T cells, which are essential in many inflammatory processes. Therefore, accumulations of slanDCs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis (psoriasis) and lupus erythematosus (butterfly lichen) have been shown.

Similarity to psoriasis and MS
„In the lay area one can not always imagine the similarity of essential immunological processes in psoriasis and MS, brain and skin, which are not at first sight similar. But in terms of immunology, the diseases are relatively comparable“ explained Professor Tjalf Ziemssen, Professor of Clinical Neurosciences and Head of the MS Center at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus. He and his colleague Katja Thomas have long been investigating the influence of dendritic cells on multiple sclerosis.

More targeted therapies with fewer side effects
Little was known about the involvement of dendritic cells in the pathogenesis of MS. The researchers therefore had the idea to check slan dendritic cells in other autoimmune diseases. For example, it is now known that dendritic cells have more influence on the pathogenesis of MS, whereas in the past, T cells were predominantly in focus. The scientists want to develop more specific and more targeted therapies with fewer side effects through better knowledge of the causes. In Germany, "more than 120,000 people are estimated to suffer from MS". The first signs that may indicate the chronic inflammatory disease, for example, "sensations, tingling hands and feet, blurred vision, numbness in the legs, paralysis, dizziness and balance and strength disorders". (Ad)