Asthma drug albuterol can ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, new study says

From The Los Angeles Times:

The asthma drug albuterol can ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and delay relapses when added to conventional treatments, but the effects apparently wear off after a year, researchers reported Sept. 13.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the body's own immune system attacks the protective layer of myelin around nerve fibers, producing short circuits. Symptoms include visual disturbances, difficulty walking, fatigue, and loss of coordination, sensation, and bowel and bladder control. About 85% of the 400,000 Americans with the disease have relapsing-remitting MS, in which attacks are typically followed by periods of remission -- although each relapse typically leaves the body more damaged.

The disease is associated with abnormal activity of an immune-system chemical, or cytokine, called interleukin-12. IL-12 promotes production of white blood cells that attack myelin fibers. Albuterol is known to suppress the activity of IL-12, so researchers guessed it might help in MS.

Dr. Samia J. Khoury of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and her colleagues studied 44 patients with relapsing-remitting MS who were just beginning treatment with the conventional drug glatiramer acetate, known by the brand name Copaxone. All subjects received 20 milligram injections of glatiramer acetate daily for two years. Half also received 4 milligrams of albuterol orally daily and half a placebo.

The researchers reported in the Archives of Neurology that patients taking albuterol had an average of 0.09 relapse over the first year of the study, while those taking placebo had an average of 0.37 per year. During the first year of the study, those taking albuterol also had lower levels of the cytokines interleukin-13 and interferon-gamma in their bloodstreams. Those taking the drug scored higher than those taking placebo on tests of functioning at the end of one year, but not at two years. There were few side effects. The authors concluded that the drug is deserving of further studies.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.