New treatments for promoting nerve cells regrowth in people with MS are inviting optimism at the University of Saskatchewan.
A distinct and debilitating characteristic of this disease is its damage to nerve cells, which over time contributes to declining physical function and reduced quality of life.
“Witnessing the struggles that come with MS has reinforced how impactful it would be to find another alternative therapy,” she said.
Motivated by the patients around her, Tokarska is conducting research that encourages the regenerating capacity of damaged nerve cells. Her innovative work is garnering encouraging pre-clinical results.
This unique, alternative therapy — known as acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) — involves exposing a subject to alternating periods of normal and reduced oxygen levels. While this technique has been examined in relation to spinal cord injuries, Tokarska’s work is applying the technique to MS.
“This research has shown that AIH can induce repair and protect the nervous system in an animal modelof MS,” said Tokarska.
The results of her trials are highly promising and showed reduced levels of disability and indicators of heightened nerve cell protection and repair. The treatment also resulted in reduced levels of inflammation and a shift toward a “pro-repair state” in remaining areas of nerve damage.
These positive results lasted for at least two weeks (last timepoint examined) after the end of treatment.
Tokarska noted that this work builds on the findings of others from the Verge lab within the Cameco MS Neuroscience Research Centre at U of S. Studies from others within her research group have demonstrated the impact of electrical nerve stimulation in supporting nerve cell firing and encouraging healing in damaged cells.
Unfortunately, these procedures are invasive and not easily applied in the case of MS, where lesions can occur anywhere in the brain and spinal cord.
The AIH treatment encourages a similar reparative effect within nerve cells, with the added benefit of being non-invasive. The lab is now completing additional pre-clinical work on the effects of AIH on MS and is on the road to entering AIH into clinical trials in humans with MS.
“We are very excited and hopeful about AIH’s potential to repair and protect in cases of MS,” Tokarska said.
Tokarska and her graduate supervisor Dr. Valerie Verge (PhD) received funding from MS Canada and theUSask College of Medicine to complete this work.
This content runs through a partnership between the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the University of Saskatchewan.
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