Researchers Report Lab Results Showing Enzymes Important in Myelin Repair
July 27, 2018
Currently, there are no approved medications that can promote myelin repair in the brain. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have demonstrated that miconazole – a drug used to treat athlete’s foot – enhanced myelin formation by inhibiting an enzyme used to produce cholesterol. Further experiments showed that more than 20 new drugs that enhance myelin formation inhibit similar enzymes.
These interesting findings are still in early stages, and no conclusions can be drawn about what they mean for the use of miconazole or inhibiting cholesterol as a safe, effective strategy for MS. According to a press release from the university, experimental treatments based on this work are not expected to enter human trials until 2019.
The Society is currently funding one author of this study, Paul Tesar, PhD, to investigate the underlying factors that hinder stem cells in the brain from replacing myelin in people with MS.
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Read a scientific summary of this study