A previously unknown connection found by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Two ion channels, proteins that act as pores in a cell membrane, when misaligned can cause symptoms that are found in multiple sclerosis (MS).
The researchers took a computer model done in the 1950s, a model of an a squid axon that lacks myelin, the cover of nerves in the brain, and then tracked the positive charged sodium and potassium ions. Sodium and potassium ions, that travel across the neuronal membrane, generate electrical signals.
"It's been known for a long time that the two most important ions in the axon are sodium and potassium,"says Sejnowski. "What we did was use a program that can model every part of the axon by breaking it into little segments so we could we keep track of the ions going in and out of each segment. And what we found really surprised us."
They included myelin in their model, demyelinated one the sections and included all the changes that were known to take place because of it. They were able to see how the previously ignored potassium current, that determines whether “neurons fire properly”, when combined with the boosted sodium channel, works only if the sodium level drops along with the potassium whereas if sodium drops but potassium does not, the patient may experience twitching.
"Our findings offer an avenue of hope for the many millions of MS patients,"explains Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Terrence J. Sejnowski, professor and head of the Salk Institute's Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, who led the study. "We've discovered a new target that could be efficacious. This particular pathway or ion channel is a key player in this disease, and we think that manipulating it could have a huge benefit for people suffering from MS."
The article talks of how this is “novel approach” and considering the amount of time spent looking at new sciences and studies being done through out the last few years, this author has to concur.
The explanations for a worsening of symptoms, such as heat and how all those who suffer from MS agree on the affects of it, show how sodium and potassium channels are “temperature-dependent”.
The researchers plan on looking at these channels and how they apply to what is called intractable pain, pain that doesn’t respond to the usual medical, surgical or nursing measures and is an all across the board difficulty in MS patients.
Until more is found, a place of interest for pain management found near Lima:
113 E Kiracofe Ave in Elida
(419) 235-2100
and more ideas can also be found by calling our Northwest Ohio MS Society:
For more info: for those who live in Lima, Ohio, the Northwestern Ohio MS Chapter can be reached at: 401 Tomahawk Drive, Maumee, OH at (419) 897-7263. They are located approximately an hour and a half from Lima, Ohio and 45 minutes from Findlay, Ohio. For directions please click here at Bing Maps.
Sources: http://www.newswise.com/articles/decoding-the-disease-that-perplexes-sal...
For any corrections of factual information or to contact the writer please use - LWF.Examiner@Gmail.Com
Make your voice heard. "Subscribe" above and post your comments, questions and opinions below.
Follow Lori Friend on twitter @: twitter.com/lwilsonfriend
Comments