The immunosuppressive drug Imuran (azathioprine) appears to help reduce brain lesions in people with multiple sclerosis, a new Italian study finds.It was already known that Imuran reduces relapse rates in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, but its effects on the frequency and accumulation of new brain inflammatory lesions in people with MS hadn’t been studied. MS is a disease of the central nervous system. It can cause numbness, weakness, loss of muscle coordination and problems with speech, vision and bladder control.Reporting in the December issue of Archives of Neurology, researchers at the University of Florence had 14 patients with relapse-remitting MS of short duration receive Imuran for six months.
