Common medication for acne can help those with MS

Calgary researchers hit upon the new treatment option

CALGARY University of Calgary researchers say acne cream isn’t just for improving teenagers’ complexions — it can also help those with multiple sclerosis.

A clinical trial led by doctors Luanne Metz and Wee Yong shows the common acne medicine minocycline can slow the process of MS in people who have experienced initial symptoms of the debilitating autoimmune disease.

“This is a defining moment,” said Yong, who made the discovery. “This is going to be the first oral medication shown to have effectiveness in early MS.”

MS is a condition in which immune cells get overly activated and can make their way into the brain and spinal cord to produce injury.

Similar to the use of minocycline for acne, which prevents inflammation in the skin, it can be used to decrease the ability of inflammatory cells to cross the barrier between the bloodstream and the brain, Metz explained.

Not only is the treatment safe, but it could save Canadians time and thousands of dollars.

Current medications cost upwards of $20,000 per year, but Minocycline costs $600, averaging only about $2 a day.

It also takes between two and four months for a patient to receive an injectable medication for MS, which is the only form available on the market prior to minocycline.

The lengthy wait is due to insurance approval and lessons on safe injection. The oral medication can be picked up the same day it is prescribed.

“We know that time matters in MS. With a progressive passage of time, there is more injury to the brain and spinal cord,” Yong said. “The ability to give minocycline right away, once a neurologist sees an expected case, is very significant.”

This drug could also have a global effect.

“Because of the high cost of treatment, people often don’t have access worldwide. So for many countries that don’t have the advantages that we have in Canada, they will now have access to inexpensive medications,” Metz said.

AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY

The clinical trial that led to minocycline’s proved efficacy was conducted at the university’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the Cumming School of Medicine.

One-hundred-and-forty-two participants between the ages of 18 and 60 were randomized to either receive minocycline or a placebo.

The participants had to have presented a clinical episode that looked like an MS attack and showed changes in a brain MRI to be eligible. This is because twothirds of people who show early MS symptoms develop the disease fully in six months.

Half a year after the start of the trial, just 33 per cent of people who received minocycline developed MS compared with 61 per cent of patients who took the placebo.

It took about 18 years for Yong and Metz to make the discovery.

Yong said it took that amount of time because they didn’t have the financial backing of big pharmaceutical companies, who would not profit from the generic, inexpensive medication for MS.

Therefore, Metz and Yong had to find funding for each phase of the research leading to the discovery.

The trial was funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

The results of the trial are to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday.