Researchers, including Robert Miller, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research, Vivian Gill Distinguished Research Professor, and professor of anatomy and regenerative biology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, have taken another step forward in tackling multiple sclerosis (MS).
Miller, working with Paul Tesar, Ph.D., a professor in Case Western Reserve’s Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, has identified two drugs, miconazole and clobetasol, that could have a significant impact on reversing the severity of MS.
“Current therapies focus on stopping immune system attacks, slowing the progression of the disease,” Miller said. “Our research is focused on trying to repair the brain itself, to stop the disease rather than slow it. While successful in vivo, we’re looking forward to continuing our research through further testing of miconazole and clobetasol.”
Miconazole, the scientists discovered, functions directly as a remyelinating drug without affecting the immune system, and clobetasol is both a powerful immunosuppressant and a remyelinating agent. Remyelinating is crucial to reversing the effects of MS as it leads to the creation of new myelin sheaths, which form protective insulation over nerves.
“We asked if we could find a faster and less invasive approach by using drugs to activate native stem cells already in the adult nervous system and direct them to form new myelin,” Tesar said. “Our ultimate goal was to enhance the body’s ability to repair itself.”
Miller and Tesar’s report, “Drug-based modulation of endogenous stem cells promotes functional remyelination in vivo,” was published this spring in “Nature.”
