Effects of estrogen treatment combat multiple sclerosis in mice

FINDINGSA study by UCLA researchers reveals the cellular basis for how the hormone estrogen protects against damage to the central nervous system in women with multiple sclerosis, or MS. The researchers found that estrogen treatment exerts positive effects on two types of cells during disease — immune cells in the brain as well as cells called oligodendrocytes.BACKGROUNDUCLADr. Rhonda VoskuhlMultiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune, neurodegenerative disease marked by visual impairment, weakness and sensory loss, as well as cognitive decline. These symptoms emerge when inflammatory immune cells destroy the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve cells, known as axons, and that acts as a form of protective insulation for those cells.The third trimester of pregnancy previously has been shown to reduce relapse rates by about 70 percent as compared to before pregnancy, and other studies have shown benefit over the long term due to multiple pregnancies. An estrogen unique to pregnancy that is made by the fetus and placenta has been proposed by Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl and colleagues to mediate this pregnancy protection in both the MS mouse model as well as in two successfully completed clinical trials of estriol treatment in women with MS.How that happens has remained a critical question. Voskuhl reported mouse studies showing that estrogen protected the brain from damage by activating a protein called estrogen receptor beta. Her new research identifies which cells within the brain are m...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news