Participants for clinical trials

.
Alzheimer's Donation
Donate Online Now
.
The Roskamp Institute in Sarasota is screening potential candidates with the relapsing/remitting form of multiple sclerosis for a research study on an experimental MS drug called fingolimod that has shown promise in earlier clinical trials. It was developed by Novartis.

What makes fingolimod so exciting is the fact that this is a once-a-day capsule, said Dr. Richard Mullan, Roskamp's director. Currently the only treatment option available for this type of MS is a drug that must be given by injection, Mullan said.

The fingolimod study, which is part of the FDA approval process, is designed to determine the effectiveness and safety of the drug. fingolimod appears to help relapsing/remitting MS patients by causing white blood cells to move away from areas of inflammation and retreat to the lymph system, thereby lessening the symptoms. The white cells known as T-cells are responsible for immune reactions that characterize MS, Mullan said. And it's here - the trigger that causes the white cells to retreat - where one finds the connection that links one of the nation's leading research institutes in Alzheimer's disease with research on multiple sclerosis.

Roskamp scientists have found that patients with Alzheimer's disease and patients with MS have the same marker on their T-cells. This marker appears to act as a switch, directing the T-cells' response, said Mullan. In the case of Alzheimer's it triggers a decrease in T-cells. That leads to a build-up of a sticky substance, a protein called beta amyloid, in the brain. The build-up causes major damage to neurons, Mullan said. In MS patients, the marker appears to cause the T-cells to aggressively attack the body.

It's this very research in how that marker works to influence the T-cell that has Roskamp scientists excited, said Dr. Andrew Keegan, an investigator in the clinical trials division participating in the fingolimod study.