Heart Medication Shows Potential to Repair Myelin

Research Summary: Repurposing the cardiac glycoside digoxin to stimulate myelin regeneration in chemically-induced and immune-mediated mouse models of multiple sclerosis

The ability to repair myelin damage in multiple sclerosis represents the next major step forward in the treatment of the disease.  Today, we are going to summarise a recent publication that has identified a new potential therapy for this purpose.

What?

The study identified a cardiac medication, digoxin, as potentially being able to promote remyelination in animal models of multiple sclerosis.

Who?

This research was conducted by a team at Northwestern University in Illinois, USA.

Where?

The article was published in Glia.  The full-text is currently freely available and can be viewed here.

When?

The study was published online in July, 2022.

BACKGROUND #1:  Currently, there are no approved treatments that actively promote the repair of damaged myelin in multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND #2:  To try and accelerate the search for remyelination therapies, researchers are screening medications, which have already been approved for other purposes, for their ability to promote myelin repair.

BACKGROUND #3:  Digoxin, a heart medication, has been identified in laboratory studies to have beneficial impacts on remyelination.  This finding has led to this publication, which further analyses the ability of digoxin in animal models of multiple sclerosis.

FINDING #1:  Digoxin was able to promote the repair of damaged myelin in mice.  

FINDING #2:  Digoxin was found to be ineffective at suppressing the autoimmune response in an animal model of multiple sclerosis.  This indicates that the benefits observed through the use of digoxin relate to its ability to promote myelin repair and show it does not have any impact on disease progression.

FINDING #3:  A combined treatment approach using digoxin and a second therapy designed to stop new damage to the central nervous system produced better improvements in clinical symptoms in an animal model of multiple sclerosis.  This suggests that the best strategy may involve using two treatments:  one to stop new damage, such as many of the existing therapies for multiple sclerosis, and one to repair existing damage (i.e. a remyelination therapy).

There is always a lot of excitement whenever there is a new study that suggests the development of a novel approach to myelin repair.  This study has provided a novel approach, through the use of digoxin, but there are still some important points that need to be considered.

THOUGHT #1: The data generated in these experiments has come from cell culture work and animal models.  It is important to note that no human clinical trials were performed in this study, however, the authors note that they are looking to do this in the near future.  We know that positive results in animal studies do not always translate to the same results in human trials, so we will have to wait for these findings to completely understand the potential of digoxin for people living with multiple sclerosis.

THOUGHT #2: Considering the importance of finding remyelination therapies, it is fantastic to see that there are so many avenues that are being explored.  While we know the reality is that a lot of research doesn’t result in new treatments becoming available, the fact that a wide variety of approaches are in development holds great promise for one being successful.

As always, if you have any questions for Brett, please either comment below or join the conversation on our social channels.

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Read other articles we have published on myelin repair here.