Repairing nerve cell damage

February 16, 2007

MEDIA ADVISORY

Editors’ note: Story under embargo until 5 pm Eastern time on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007 under The Journal of Neuroscience embargo rules

The mystery of why multiple sclerosis (MS) tends to go into remission while women are pregnant may be the secret to overcoming the devastating neurodegenerative disease, according to University of Calgary researchers who have shown that a pregnancy-related hormone is responsible for rebuilding the protective coating around nerve cells.

In a paper to be published in the February 21 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, a team of researchers from the U of C’s Faculty of Medicine reports that a study conducted on mice found that the hormone prolactin encourages the spontaneous production of myelin, the fatty substance that coats nerve cells and plays a critical role in transmitting messages in the central nervous system. A collaboration between the laboratories of Drs. Samuel Weiss and V. Wee Yong of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, the study is the first to determine that prolactin, which increases in the body during pregnancy, is directly responsible for the formation of new myelin in the brains and spinal cords of pregnant mice.

The research was based on evidence that MS, which is more common in women than men, goes into remission when women become pregnant. MS is a neurodegenerative disease where the body’s own immune system attacks the myelin surrounding nerves, leading to progressive loss of sensation and movement. MS affects approximately 2.5 million people worldwide and Canadians have one of the highest rates of the disease in the world.

Media availability and photo opportunities on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007:

Dr. Samuel Weiss, Dr. Wee Yong and members of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute research team, a Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada representative and a Calgary woman with MS will be available for media interviews on Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m., in Weiss’s lab at the U of C Faculty of Medicine’s Health Sciences Centre, 3330 Hospital Drive NW.

Report to security to be directed to the lab. Pay parking available in Lot 6.

Media contact:

Grady Semmens                                                            
Media Relations Advisor – Research                                                        
University of Calgary
Phone: (403) 220-7722
Cell: (403) 651-2515