USask study hones in on causes of MS disability

University of Saskatchewan research team is a step closer to finding a cause of the nerve cell death experienced by people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a discovery that could lead to better treatments for this permanent and debilitating disease.

“Determining the mechanism that may be contributing to nerve cell damage could help us develop new drugs that better treat the disability caused by multiple sclerosis,” said USask neurology professor Dr. Michael Levin, Saskatchewan Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Research Chair.

Levin and his PhD student Hannah Salapa have been the first to identify that stress granules found in nerve cells of MS brains may contribute to patients’ permanent disability by damaging nerves through inflammation of brain and spinal cord. The findings have been published in the Journal of Neuroimmunology and were presented at a major international conference in Brisbane, Australia, in August.

Read more on the university's news site.