MS Patients May See Improvement in Symptoms with Combined Treatment Technique

A clinical study funded by the National Institutes of Health found potentially promising evidence for multiple sclerosis patients. By combining two drugs, the scientists found that symptoms for MS patients could be relieved.

In a study involving 158 patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), scientists combined Copaxone - a drug used to treat relapsing MS patients - with the estrogen hormone estriol. The study was conducted over the course of two years by doctors at the University of California, Angeles.

All of the participants received Copaxone, with half also receiving 8 milligrams of estriol and the other half receiving placebo pills. The medication was consumed daily and the scientists sought to determine whether or not estriol helped decrease relapses among RRMS patients who were prescribed Copaxone.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a nervous system disease that affects the brain and spinal cord and breaks down communication between nerves that is essential for the body. Immune cells break down myelin, which is the protective covering around nerve cells essential for communication. Those who suffer MS relapses experience inflammation in neurological symptoms - something past studies have shown that estrogen can potentially combat.

Following a year of treatment, those who were receiving both Copaxone and estriol had a 47% lower relapse rate than the placebo group. Additionally, they scored hire on cognitive tests than the placebo group did. Despite the promising results, lead author Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl of UCLA, believes that larger studies must be conducted in order to ensure the benefits outweigh the risks for MS patients.

"I'm very excited by these results," said Voskuhl, in this UCLA Newsroom article. "Currently, all of the available drugs reduce immune attacks on the brain, but none of them protects the brain. Estriol is particularly promising because it both reduces attacks and protects the brain directly. It's a two-pronged approach - an anti-inflammatory prong to reduce the attacks, and a neuroprotective prong to make the brain suffer less damage in case of an attack." 

Current MS treatments that reduce relapses and slow the progression of the disease cost up to $60,000 per year, which is expensive for a medication that does not provide a cure.

Dr. Voskuhl presented her study's findings today at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. You can read more about it in this EurekAlert! news release.