Cheap epilepsy drug could prevent nerve damage in Multiple Sclerosis
Published 1 Feb 2016
A cheap epilepsy drug which is already prescribed on the NHS could prevent nerve damage in people with Multiple Sclerosis, a new study suggests.
Researchers, led by Dr Raj Kapoor from the UCL Institute of Neurology, found the anti-seizure drug phenytoin protected neural tissue in patients with optic neuritis, potentially preventing the onset of blindess.
Optic neuritis is a symptom of MS which causes the nerves carrying information between the eye to the brain to become inflamed and damaged.
"This is great news for people with MS. There are currently no treatments that can directly protect the nerves from damage." Dr Emma Gray, Head of Clinical Trials at the MS Society
“These are promising results and if our findings are confirmed by larger studies, could lead to a new treatment that protects nerves from the damage caused both in optic neuritis and throughout the central nervous system in attacks of MS,” said Dr Kapoor said:
The findings, presented at the American Academy of Neurology 67th Annual Meeting, bring researchers one step closer to establishing neuroprotective drugs for people with MS – currently there are none.
As the study looks at repurposing an existing treatment already shown to be clinically effective researchers would not need to go through so many trials .
In the study 86 people with acute optic neuritis received either phenytoin or a placebo for three months.
At the end of the trial the group who had taken phenytoin had on average 30 per cent less damage to the nerve fibre layer compared with those who received the placebo.
The drug works because it prevents the fatal build-up of sodium in nerve cells.
The researchers are hoping to move quickly to phase three trials to see if it could benefit a larger number of patients.
Dr Emma Gray, Head of Clinical Trials at the MS Society, said: “This is great news for people with MS
“There are currently no treatments that can directly protect the nerves from damage in MS and, if effective, this treatment could be beneficial for all types of the condition, which is currently unheard of. “
Dr Kapoor added : “We have been trying to achieve neuroprotection ever since we realised that disability was due to nerve damage, so it is very encouraging that we have now found one way of doing so. We hope this will open the door to significant progress in preventing disability not only in optic neuritis, but also in MS as a whole”.
MS affects more than 100,000 people in UK and symptoms typically appear when people are in their 20s and 30s. MS attacks the central nervous system, causing confusion and delay in messages sent from the brain and spine to parts of the body. Symptoms include sight loss, pain, fatigue, continence and disability.
Professor Ley Sander, medical director at Epilepsy Society added: “This is very good news. This study shows promising results for people with multiple sclerosis which is a very debilitating condition. However, it also holds promise for people with epilepsy.
“Potentially there could be many drugs which are licensed for specific conditions but which may also have untapped potential for epilepsy. Identifying these drugs and moving them quickly into clinical trials could increase the number of medications available to treat people with epilepsy.”
The study was funded by the UK’s MS Society, the US National MS Society and the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University College London.
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