Queen's University Scientists Reveal Landmark Study In Fight Against MS

Research scientists at Queen's University have discovered that specific cells from the immune system are key players in brain repair.

The research study, led by Dr Yvonne Dombrowski and Dr Denise Fitzgerald at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, is being hailed as a landmark study in unravelling the mysteries of how the brain repairs damage. This is crucial in the fight against multiple sclerosis (MS), which affects 2.3 million people world-wide and over 4,500 people in Northern Ireland.

MS is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults and is the result of damage to myelin, the protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system – the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve.

Until now, medical treatment could limit relapses but could not reverse the damage already done by the condition. The aspect of the new research is that the team have uncovered beneficial effects of immune cells in myelin repair that have potential to reverse myelin damage. The study was an international collaboration including experts in Cambridge, San Francisco, Edinburgh, Maynooth and Nice.

This is a fundamental breakthrough that could revolutionise the treatment of debilitating neurological disorders such as MS.

Dr Dombrowski, who is the lead author of the report, explained: "At Queen's we are taking a unique and fresh approach to uncover how the immune system drives brain repair. This knowledge is essential to designing future treatments that tackle neurological diseases, such as MS, in a new way – repairing damage rather than only reducing attacks. In the future, combining these approaches will deliver better outcomes for patients."