'Bad' white blood cells responsible for multiple sclerosis.
Researchers have identified a type of 'bad' white blood cells that are responsible for abnormal immune responses in patients of multiple sclerosis, which could help find new treatments for the disease.
More than 2.3 million people are affected by Multiple Sclerosis worldwide.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, typically progressive disease involving damage to the sheaths of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, whose symptoms may include numbness, impairment of speech and of muscular coordination, blurred vision, and severe fatigue. It is considered to be a disease controlled by the T cell, a type of white blood cell.
Research has shown that in MS, T cells inappropriately attack myelin, the protective layer of fat covering nerves in the central nervous system, exposing them to damage. Emerging studies have also discovered that B cells, another type of white blood cells, are significant contributors to the disease.
Recent clinical trials showed that B cell depletion Therapy (BCDT) in people with relapsing-remitting MS led to dramatic decreases in new disease activity. But how B cells contribute to the disease is yet to be understood.
"We've recently discovered that different types of human B cells exist. Some B cells have been shown to promote inflammation, while others are actually able to limit inflammation," said senior author Amit Bar-Or, from the Montreal Neurological Institute.
The study first examined samples of MS patients, comparing them to healthy subjects. Researchers discovered that GM-CSF (glycoprotein secreted by T cells) producing B cells were more frequent and more prone to activation in MS patients.
This subset of B cells activated pro-inflammatory responses of myeloid cells of the immune system.
"Furthermore, better identifying the particular subset of B cells responsible for new disease activity, we can look forward to more selectively targeting the "bad" B cells while leaving "good" B cells intact," researchers said.
The study was published in the journal of Science Translational Medicine.
Read more about Multiple Sclerosis here.
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