Multiple Sclerosis Discovery -- Episode 18 with Dr. Samuel Ludwin

Multiple Sclerosis Discovery: The Podcast of the MS Discovery Forum

Hello, and welcome to Episode Eighteen of Multiple Sclerosis Discovery, the podcast of the MS Discovery Forum. I’m your host, Dan Keller.

The term “neuroscience” makes it very clear who is the star of the show—neurons. But over the past few years, glial cells have been elbowing their way in from supporting cast to stars in their own right. We recently reported a story about how oligodendrocytes need to make new myelin in order for mice to learn a new motor task effectively. The study demonstrated how glia are required in active learning, as well as highlighted the importance of targeting remyelination in new therapies for demyelinating disorders.

Finally, we recently added a new data visualization examining the differences in baseline characteristics of patients in 74 RRMS and CIS clinical trials. You can easily see how individual trials compare to the overall mean values of gender, age, Expanded Disability Status Scale score, the number of gadolinium enhancing lesions, and the volume of T2 lesions. To see the new data visualization, click on the “Data Visualizations” tab under “Research Resources,” and then click on “RRMS and CIS baseline characteristics.”

In terms of remyelination, what do we know now? Are there new thoughts about mechanisms and are there any compounds in development that would facilitate it?

Interviewee—Samuel Ludwin

It is interesting that some of the drugs are either approved for other uses or they are older drugs or derivatives of older drugs that are now resurfacing in this arena. How do some of those work?

Dr. Ludwin

It sounds like those have sort of general repair functions. I mean they are using estrogen or testing it in traumatic brain injury and things like that.

Dr. Ludwin

Now I guess there is a difference between neuroprotection and remyelination. Some of these drugs do both or do they fall into separate categories?

Dr. Ludwin

You hear much more in terms of reperfusion injury, the role of excitotoxicity, particularly glutamate. Does that also enter here or is this such a chronic process that you really don't have an accumulation of glutamate?

Dr. Ludwin

On these topics, either compounds that look promising or the process of repair itself, what have we missed, or is there anything important to add?

Dr. Ludwin

Very good, I appreciate it.

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Msdiscovery.org aims to focus attention on what is known and not yet known about the causes of MS and related conditions, their pathological mechanisms, and potential ways to intervene. By communicating this information in a way that builds bridges among different disciplines, we hope to open new routes toward significant clinical advances.

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