Old TB Drug is New MS Treatment

In addition to an oral medication that may soon be available for people with MS and the first reversal of multiple sclerosis symptoms using stem cell research, John Hopkins' scientists have found that an old Tuberculosis drug called Clofazimine inhibits the molecular pathway from the cell exterior to the nucleus. This is how a cell generates an immune response. In the case of people with multiple sclerosis, an auto-immune response.

Clofazimine's history goes back before the 1900's when it used against TB. Scientists at the University have recently discovered that the drug blocks the activity of the Kv1.3 channel and in turn inhibits the activity of other signaling pathways. By interferring with cell signaling the drug induces an inhibited auto-immune response in patients with neurological diseases and, in the case of MS patients, a decreased attack on the myelin sheath surrounding the neuron.