Perhaps the most effective treatments currently available today deal with the autoimmune component of multiple sclerosis and work by regulating aspects of the immune system. They are known as the "ABC" treatments, where "A" stands for Avonex, "B" stands for Betaseron/Betaferon and "C" stands for Copaxone are both varieties of beta interferon. A third drug, Rebif, is also beta interferon. ABCR would be a more accurate acronym though clearly less appealing to those of us with a crossword-solving mentality.
Copaxone is a completely different drug altogether - the active ingredient being glatiramer acetate, Co-polymer-1 or COP-1.
A fifth drug, Novantrone, has recently become available. This is a chemotherapeutic agent which I shall deal with in a later section.
Beta interferon
Beta Interferon comes in two varieties, beta interferon-1a (Avonex and Rebif) and beta interferon-1b (Betaseron in the US and Betaferon in Europe).
Beta interferon (IFN-b) is a naturally occuring biochemical in the human body and belongs to a group of biochemicals known as interferons (IFNs) which regulate the functioning of the immune system.
The mechanism by which IFN-b functions is complex and not fully understood. I shall explore this more fully in a later section but for now we can summarise it as:
It reduces the levels of another interferon, called interferon gamma (IFN-g), which is known to be associated with the disease process in multiple sclerosis.
It appears to block certain white blood cells from attacking the insulating sheaths of the nerves - the myelin sheaths.
It appears to stop a type of white blood cell, called a T Cell, from releasing immune system signalling molecules (cytokines) that wouldotherwise encourage inflammation.
It appears to interfere with the process of summoning new immune system cells to the site of inflammation.
Read more to come:
James Eckburg
http://www.jimscornershop.com
