MS could win out of COVID medicine

AN “accidental” breakthrough cure for multiple sclerosis could emerge from the horrors of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scientists who have created a highly successful jab for coronavirus have discovered that the same vaccine mRNA also improved MS symptoms and prevented disease progression in rodents showing signs of MS.

The findings have “excited” a leading Australian MS researcher who hopes future research will offer a similar protection in people with the debilitating disease – which is most prevalent in Tasmania.

There are more than 25,600 people with MS in Australia, and Tasmania has the highest diagnosis rate, with about 138.7 cases per 100,000 people.

It is a lifelong disease with no cure. It attacks the central nervous system – the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves and the progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS cannot be predicted.

German company BioNTech has delivered a COVID-19 vaccine that has been unrivalled in its efficacy and it is being rolled out in the US and the EU.

Their work into multiple sclerosis has been published in the medical journal Science.

“While this is an interesting study, it is early-stage research in the laboratory,” MS Research Australia head of research at Julia Morahan said.

“In people with MS we don’t know specifically which components of the brain and spinal cord are targeted by the immune system. So, designing a specific “vaccine” has not been possible.

“This research is exciting because the ‘vaccine’ was shown to dampen the immune response against additional components of the brain and spinal cord which are involved in auto-immune responses in MS.

“This is an encouraging early finding, and we hope that future research will investigate whether a similar protection could be induced in people with MS,” Dr Morahan said.

BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin hypothesised that an mRNA vaccine could help the immune system tolerate specific MS-related proteins without compromising normal immune function. Existing treatments suppress the immune system but can leave patients open to infections.