Relapse-remitting multiplesclerosis (RR-MS) is a chronic disorder involving inflammatory attacks on the CentralNervous System. RR-MS affects about 350,000 people in the U.S. significantlyreducing their quality of life. The Opioid Growth Factor (OGF)-Opioid GrowthFactor Receptor (OGFr) pathway has been reported to be involved in experimentalautoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Blockade of OGF-OGFr interaction using low dosages of the opioidantagonist naltrexone (LDN) alters the course of disease.
At the
Experimental Biology conference held in San Diego recently (April 2014), Leslie
A. Hammer, a graduate student in Anatomy, presented a poster and talk about her
pre-clinical work conducted in the laboratories of Drs Zagon and McLaughlin at
the Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences, Penn State University College
of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
Her study was entitled “Low dose naltrexone
inhibits the progression of clinical disease in established relapse-remitting
experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis - a model for multiple sclerosis”.
Within
9 days of LDN treatment mice had markedly reduced mean behavioral scores
compared to controls. In the LDN group,
80% of the mice had complete remission (behavioral scores of 0.5 or less)
during the 40 day observation period.
Moreover, LDN-treated mice demonstrated a 4-fold increase in mild
disease scores relative to controls.
The
results indicate that modulation of the OGF-OGFr pathway by LDN in established
RR-EAE inhibited the severity of initial flair and limited the progression of
clinical disease, with many LDN-treated mice showing complete remission. These
observations support LDN as a non-toxic/safe biotherapy for the treatment of
RR-MS.
By
participating at this event, Leslie was able to raise the profile of LDN and
OGF into the scientific/medical community which attracted some media
attention. We are pleased that donations
received from LDN users facilitated the exposure of such important work
allowing it to gain traction.
Formore information on Dr Zagon and Dr McLaughlin’s work, please click here
