Authors of Irish study said the finding may lead to a potential new target for multiple sclerosis treatments
A key immune system switch may play a key role in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), an Irish study has found.
In a newly published paper, researchers at Trinity College Dublin uncovered evidence that the NLRP3 inflammasome could be pivotal in the inflammatory processes associated with the origins of the disease.
This research emphasises that this key immune system switch should be targeted with new medicines to help treat the condition.
“Our findings provide new insight into the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome in multiple sclerosis pathogenesis, highlighting inflammation as a potential key driver of disease progression,” said PhD researcher Almudena Otálora-Alcaraz.
“This improved understanding of disease-related inflammatory processes across different stages of MS could help guide the development of more targeted and effective treatments for people living with MS.”
Multiple sclerosis is disorder that targets the brain and spinal cord, leading to impaired nervous system function and a variety of symptoms that include pain, fatigue, muscle spasticity and loss of mobility.
It is the most common cause of progressive neurological disability in young adults, preferentially affecting women between 20 and 40 years of age. Some 2.8 million people have MS worldwide, and over 9,000 people in Ireland currently have an MS diagnosis.
Currently there is no cure for MS. A range of therapies are available to suppress inflammation in patients with the disease, but there is a pressing need for new medicines as approved medications often have a limited ability to block disability progression and are commonly linked to side effects.
In this study researchers examined brain tissue from individuals who had MS. They also conducted an assessment of immune cells isolated from blood samples from people living with different subtypes of the disorder.
Their findings revealed that immune cells isolated from people with MS secrete higher levels of the inflammatory protein interleukin 1β, which is closely associated with NLRP3 activation, when compared to immune cells from healthy volunteers.
The research suggests that the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components is dysregulated in MS, both in the brain and in immune cells.
“This work builds on previous research from my lab demonstrating the role of innate immune inflammation in MS,” said Dr Eric Downer, associate director of research in Trinity’s TCD School of Medicine.
“We took the approach of assessing the NLRP3 inflammasome both centrally and peripherally in MS, by employing the use of brain tissue samples and immune cells. Overall, we believe that our research further highlights that the NLRP3 inflammasome warrants full investigation in MS and may be a promising potential target for future MS therapies.”
The research team now plans to test the effectiveness of current and new therapeutics in targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome using immune cells from people with MS.
Read the study: ‘Elevated expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome in post-mortem brain white matter and immune cells in multiple sclerosis’ in ‘Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders’ – Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.