Pregnancy Hormone May Be Key In Battling MS
Posted February 21, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A hormone produced during pregnancy could hold hope for thousands of people afflicted with multiple sclerosis.
The substance, prolactin, forms what’s called myelin – the fatty matter that coats the brain and spinal cord and is attacked in people who have MS.
University of Calgary researchers, working with pregnant mice, found that the disease went into remission during pregnancy and the myelin produced helped to repair some of the damage done.
“If you put it all together, it suggests that increases in prolactin makes more myelin, which may contribute to some of the repair that is seen during pregnancy in MS,” explained author Dr. Samuel Weiss, who’s director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.
The findings were published in this week’s Journal of Neuroscience.
Weiss urged those who may find the research encouraging to be patient – he believes it will be years before any human studies can begin. He adds that the hormone would probably only provide a treatment, not a cure.
Still, officials including Stewart Wong of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada called the findings important.
“We’re looking at a naturally occurring hormone that has never been looked at on how it can improve MS symptoms,” he said. “People who have MS today should be pleased with the research that’s taking place.”
