Muscle Weakness Due To Myasthenia Gravis Can Be Stopped!

Filed in archive Muscular Disorders , Neurological Disorders , Studies , Treatment on December 26, 2007

According to a new research by a team from Saint Louis University School of Medicine:

Using an animal model, the SLU scientists found they could prevent muscle weakness, or restore muscle strength, caused by myasthenia gravis by stopping the complement cascade at a step called C5 - before the series of chemical reactions had finished.

They did this by administering an anti-C5 agent, which targets one of the proteins involved in the cascade and thus stops the process.

Affecting about 120,000 Americans - Myasthenia gravis - happens when the immune system produces antibodies that attack and damage acetylcholine receptors - which are mechanisms that play a key role in transmitting the electrical impulses that cause muscles to move and contract.

According to Henry J. Kaminski, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of neurology and psychiatry at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine - one of the study's authors:

"The findings are promising enough that human clinical trials involving the anti-C5 agent - called eculizumab - are likely within a year.

We believe this therapeutic approach has strong potential for improving the lives of patients with myasthenia gravis.

And if it proves successful there, it could also one day help us find new therapies for other auto-immune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus."

Potentially promising! Take note that Myasthenia Gravis cannot be cured, but therapies are available to reduce the symptoms such as this new drug discovered that can reverse the severe muscle weakness caused by this condition.

Find more details from Science Daily.

[Photo Credit: kronus.com]