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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A form of vitamin B3 could one day help men and women stricken with severe multiple sclerosis. A new study reveals the vitamin disrupts the process of nerve fiber destruction caused by an MS-like disease in mice.
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston tested the treatment on mice with experimental autoimmune encephalitis a disease that mirrors MS in humans. Mice treated with nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3, were not as likely to suffer the same degeneration of nerve fibers mice not treated with the vitamin suffered.
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Researchers report mice given a daily injection of the drug developed symptoms later than mice not given the drug.
These findings are important, report the researchers, because it is one of the first studies to look into protection of axons -- the nerve fibers. These fibers are usually protected by a myelin sheath. MS strips that sheath away, leaving the axon exposed and vulnerable. The autoimmune response of people with MS degenerates those exposed axons, but nicotinamide seems to slow that process.
Current therapies address the myelin sheath destruction and inflammation but not damage to the nerve fibers.
The researchers say this study is a step toward a treatment for men and women suffering from the chronic progressive phase of MS for which there is not an effective treatment.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: The Journal of Neuroscience, 2006;26:00-00
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