ROCHESTER, Minn., Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Mayo Clinic study has found that two genes in mice were associated with good central nervous system repair in multiple sclerosis (MS). These findings give researchers new hope for developing more effective therapies for patients with MS and for predicting MS patients' outcomes. This study will be presented at the Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Sept. 11, 2009.
"Most MS genetic studies have looked at disease susceptibility -- or why some people get MS and others do not," says Allan Bieber, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic neuroscientist and author of this study. "This study asked, among those who have MS, why do some do well with the disease while others do poorly, and what might be the genetic determinants of this difference in outcome."
Dr. Bieber and a team of Mayo Clinic researchers used two different strains of mice with a chronic, progressive MS-like disease. One strain progressed to paralysis and death. The other underwent the initial damage induction phase of the disease and then spontaneously repaired the damage to the central nervous system and retained most neurologic function. Using the powerful genetic mapping techniques that are available for mice, the team mapped two strong genetic determinants of good disease outcome.
According to Dr. Bieber, the research suggests that there may be a small number of strong genetic determinants for central nervous system repair following demyelinating disease, rather than a larger number of weak determinants.
Also on the Mayo Clinic research team was Kanitta Suwansrinon, M.D.
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SOURCE Mayo Clinic
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