Vaccine could stop MS in its tracks

New Scientist ^ | 03.09.06 | Andy Coghlan

[Coleus]

THE immune cells that attack the brains and nerves of people with multiple sclerosis could be turned into a weapon against the disease.

This month sees the beginning of a trial of a personalised vaccine for MS, designed to rein in and destroy the renegade white blood cells that attack myelin cells lining the brain and nerves of patients.

To make the vaccine, PharmaFrontiers of Woodlands, Texas, takes blood from an MS patient and extracts a sample of these renegade cells. The cells are then multiplied and weakened with radiation before being re-injected into the patient, whose immune system will then recognise them as damaged and attack them, sometimes wiping them out completely, according to the results of earlier trials. The immune system will also attack healthy renegade cells, which have the same markers on their surface. In one trial of 15 people with MS the rate of new flare-ups was reduced by 92 per cent.

If this success is repeated in the new trial it might mean that regular shots could slow or even arrest progression of the disease. "If that's the case, the earlier we can do it after diagnosis the better," says David McWilliams of PharmaFrontiers. In the current trial, 100 patients will receive the treatment and 50 a dummy treatment. The vaccine would only need to be injected four times a year, while other MS drugs need to be given on a weekly or daily basis.

However, since all previous attempts to develop a vaccine for MS have failed, Richard Rudick of the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research in Cleveland, Ohio, is cautious about its prospects. "None have worked so far. This one may, but we don't yet know."

In the meantime, good news may await MS patients in the US. This week the US Food and Drug Administration is expected to lift its ban on prescribing Tysabri following new evidence on its safety and effectiveness. Tysabri, which is twice as effective at quelling symptoms as any other MS drug available, was pulled a year ago after three people taking it died from rare brain infections.

The superiority of Tysabri over existing, beta-interferon treatments was shown by three separate studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine last week (vol 354, p 899, p 911 and p 924). "With interferons, we've normally seen roughly a one-third reduction in the relapse rate," says Rudick, who led one of the studies. "With Tysabri, we saw more than a two-thirds reduction."

From issue 2542 of New Scientist magazine, 09 March 2006, page 12

[Coleus]

i bet that once the drug companies take out the mercury and make the MMR vaccine into 3 separate vaccines, you will see many of the anti-vaccine people come around.

[Billthedrill]

Hoping for a breakthrough here. The key is that those "renegade cells" that attack the myelin sheath are also a part of the immune system that eliminates their damaged counterparts. It is essentially using the immune system to counter an autoimmune reaction, which is pretty slick.

Crossing my fingers. A lot of people would get their lives back.

[Born Conservative]

i bet that once the drug companies take out the mercury and make the MMR vaccine into 3 separate vaccines, you will see many of the anti-vaccine people come around.

I bet that once people stop spreading rumors that MMR vaccine contains mercury, the anti-vaccine people will come around. MMR vaccine does NOT contain mercury. (on second thought, they probably won't)

Thimerosal was used to prevent contamination in multi-dose vials (to the best of my knowledge, the only vaccine that currently contains Thimerosal is the ADULT flu vaccine). I have personally given at least hundreds of doses of the MMR vaccine since 1994, and the vaccine has always been in 2 separate single-dose vials (the 1 vial is sterile water, the other is the powdered form of the vaccine). If you look at the prescribing info, you will see that Thimerosal is NOT an ingredient.

In addition, the MMR and mercury "theories" on autism seemed to have merged. From what I gather, though, these are 2 separate theories.

Andrew Wakefield proposes a theory that by giving the measles and mumps vaccine together, there is a risk due to a poorly understood reaction that causes damage to the intestines ("autistic bowel").This was based on a study of 12 autistic children with "severe bowel conditions". That's pretty weak. If the study involved hundreds of autistic children over a period of years, you  may be able to have some hope that the theory is correct, but a study of 12?

As for the link between mercury and autism, read this.

[rdb3]

Cautiously sounds good to me. My bod is a toxic sewer when it comes to prescribed medications right now. But I'll keep my eyes on this one.

This is a ch__ch. What's missing?

[Coleus]

MMR vaccine does NOT contain mercury. >>

I didn't say that, let me rephrase.

Most of the anti vaccine people will turn around if the drug companies and the medical professsion do 2 of the following:

1. Make the MMR into 3 separate vaccines: one vaccine for measles, one for mumps and one for rubella all given at separate times.

2. Remove mercury from vaccines.

(to the best of my knowledge, the only vaccine that currently contains Thimerosal is the ADULT flu vaccine). >>>

that's today, after: the the long fight, some pressure from congress and from pediatricians who follow the DAN protocol. From what I understand thimerosal is no longer used anymore in childhood vaccines, the consumer and political pressure envoked a change.

[Born Conservative]

Thanks for clarifying.

As for separate vaccines, I don't think that will happen anytime soon; there is minimal, if any scientific evidence to support that. My theory on multiple vaccines: everyday, our immune system is literally bombarded by thousands of microorganisms. Therefore, I don't think that giving multiple antigens will have any adverse effect.

I agree that the reason that Thimerosal was removed after political pressure, and indirectly, to consumer pressure. It's interesting to note that most of the vaccines were mercury-free by the end of the 20th century, yet autism rates continue to climb.

[Coleus]

I don't know why they are giving children hepatitis B shots. It's a disease usually contracted sexually and through sharing needles.

Back in the 60's most of us lived through the measles, mumps and the chicken pocks. As a matter of fact, when one of us contracted the disease, the doctor told our parents to let us all sleep in the same room, get the disease and be done with it all at once.

[Born Conservative]

You can probably tell that I'm pro-vaccine, but I agree about Hep B; why are we doing mass vaccinations of children? I can see MAYBE giving it pre-adolescence, but to babies? And now, they are going to start giving Hepatitis A; neither are common childhood diseases.

Yes, we did live through measles, mumps, and chicken pox, but measles can cause deafness and meningitis. Chicken pox vaccine-it's effective in 80% of kids who receive it, and the other 20% who get the disease even though they were vaccinated, will have a much milder case of it. There aren't too many healthy kids who get chicken pox and have bad outcomes, but it does help people with suppressed immune systems to cut down on the incidence of the disease.