Retinoic Acid and Calcitriol May Promote Remyelination

Research Summary: The combined administration of LNC-encapsulated retinoic acid and calcitriol stimulates oligodendrocyte progenitor cell differentiation in vitro and in vivo after intranasal administration

The treatment of multiple sclerosis has improved greatly over the past decade.  However, while all of the existing medications can reduce relapses and slow progression, none of them are able to repair damage to the myelin.  Today, we are going to summarise a recent publication that has investigated compounds that show remyelination potential.  

What?

Using both cell culture techniques and an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), this article looks at the remyelination potential of specially prepared retinoic acid and calcitriol.

Who?

This research was conducted by a team at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Brussels, Belgium.

Where?

The article was published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics.  The abstract is available here.

When?

The study was published in the journal in the June 25, 2024 volume.

BACKGROUND #1: In order to achieve myelin repair, it is known that one necessary step is to promote the generation of more oligodendrocytes.  Oligodendrocytes are the cells that are responsible for producing myelin.

BACKGROUND #2:  Both retinoic acid and calcitriol are known to be able to help stimulate the production of more oligodendrocytes.  However, they have generally been found to be difficult to administer in a fashion that would lead to this effect.

The overall approach and findings from the study are illustrated in the graphical abstract above, but we will break this down further below.

FINDING #1:  It was found that the compounds could be stably stored in ‘nanocapsules’ for delivery via a nasal spray.  

FINDING #2:  In cell culture experiments, the compounds were shown to produce more myelin-producing oligodendrocytes.  It was found that combining the compounds lead to an increased effect compared to either compound alone.

FINDING #3: The compounds were also tested in an animal model of demyelination.  It was found that the compounds – both by themselves and in the nanocapsules – were able to increase the amount of myelin basic protein (the major protein in the myelin sheath).

There is always a lot of interest when research discusses new compounds that may have the potential to repair the damage that occurs in multiple sclerosis.  Importantly, this is a research summary and should not be seen as any sort of clinical recommendation that these compounds should be used before clinical trials are conducted.

THOUGHT #1:  The findings are very interesting and it is always positive to see new compounds that may have remyelination potential.  One of the main advancements of this paper is the use of nanocapsules, which may help provide an alternative and better approach for the delivery of compounds into the area of most need for myelin repair.  Importantly, it will be critical to see further replication of these results, especially seeing as some data suggested that nanocapsules alone may also be having an impact.

THOUGHT #2: The results from this study are very preliminary and are based on cell experiments and an animal model of multiple sclerosis.  Considering this, we need to make sure that we don’t jump to conclusions about how they may translate to people living with multiple sclerosis.  Currently, there is no suggestion that people living with MS should use these results to supplement with either retinoic acid or calcitriol, and any change to medication and/or supplements should be discussed with your healthcare professional.

If you have questions on this study, please don’t hesitate to post them under this article or on any of our social media channels.

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