Cough medicine ingredient may help treat multiple sclerosis.

A drug used in over-the-counter cough medicine may treat symptoms of multiple sclerosis -- offering inexpensive therapy for a disease with few treatment options, according to UC Davis researchers.

In tests using mice, the drug, dextromethorphan, was found to significantly reduce the loss of myelin, the fatty sheath surrounding nerve fibers in the central nervous system. It also minimized the development of paralysis during MS attacks.

The finding provides an opportunity to pursue a new treatment strategy "with a drug that is widely available, inexpensive and known to be safe," said Wenbin Deng, principal investigator of the study and a UC Davis assistant professor.

MS affects about 400,000 people in the United States. It is caused by cells of the immune system attacking the myelin.

Symptoms of the disease vary and often involve periods of motor problems, including paralysis of a limb or poor coordination. It may either go away or become permanent.

As the disease progresses, it causes increased disability and has no known cure, according to a UC Davis Health System press release.

Researchers induced mice to have moderate or severe MS and treated them with either very low or high doses of dextromethorphan. Investigators found that very low amounts given to mice with moderate disease signficantly reduced the loss of myelin and the development of paralysis during acute attacks. High doses didn't help at all.

"Finding that a chemical like dextromethorphan might be useful for treating multiple sclerosis is especially significant because we already know it is safe," said David E. Pleasure, director of research at the Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine at Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California in Sacramento and one of the authors of the study. "Normally, a possible new treatment must first undergo years of clinical trials to prove this."


Source: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/07/3754370/cough-medicine-ingredient-may.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter