Antihistamine Sparks Hope for Myelin Repair in Multiple Sclerosis

[SWAlexander]

Summary: A new study paves the way for potential treatments for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) by identifying the OTC antihistamine, clemastine, as an effective drug for brain repair. Utilizing a newly-developed MRI scan technique, scientists were able to observe and measure the impact of clemastine on brain myelin levels.

The study offers the first documented example of brain repair for a chronic neurological condition through MRI. These results are expected to set a standard for future research into myelin-rebuilding therapies.
https://neurosciencenews.com/antihistamine-myelin-multiple-sclerosis-23453/

Other publication on antihistamine and MS:

Over-the-counter antihistamine repairs nerve damage caused by MS.
https://newatlas.com/medical/antihistamine-reverses-ms-nerve-damage/

MWF of the corpus callosum is a robust measure of remyelination: Results from the ReBUILD trial
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2217635120

Gene expression in oligodendrocytes during remyelination reveals cholesterol homeostasis as a therapeutic target in multiple sclerosis https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1821306116

Clemastine, an Food and Drug Administration-approved antihistamine drug, reduces inflammation, protects cells, promotes remyelination, and preserves myelin integrity. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9827778/

 

[Wishful]

I noticed that, but didn't think it had enough connection to ME. I don't recall any claims that our myelin was damaged or being attacked by our immune systems. Also, surely someone with ME has taken clemastine for allergies, and didn't notice a miraculous remission.

 

[almost]

This is supposedly OTC, but I cannot find the products in which it is available. Per drugs.com, they are:
https://www.drugs.com/mtm/clemastine.html

A concern I had was its impact on gut microbiome. Many of us struggle with dysbiosis, and most drugs make that worse. This seems to be an exception per the abstract of this paper (full access behind paywall):
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022395623000067

If this is true, it would be welcome for those of us also dealing with neurological symptoms that could be related to myelin damage.

Now if I could just source it. I'm wondering if the US OTC brands have been discontinued and the drugs.com info is out of date. I haven't checked extra-US sources yet, but I will let you know what I find. If anyone knows an OTC source in the US, I'd appreciate knowing.

 

[hapl808]

If this is true, it would be welcome for those of us also dealing with neurological symptoms that could be related to myelin damage.

Now if I could just source it. I'm wondering if the US OTC brands have been discontinued and the drugs.com info is out of date. I haven't checked extra-US sources yet, but I will let you know what I find. If anyone knows an OTC source in the US, I'd appreciate knowing.

I'm planning to try it (I also have a lot of neurological symptoms, plus allergy symptoms).

It can be obtained through an RX, but I am not aware of any US OTC source. Other countries do have it OTC, though.

 

[datadragon]

Butyrate suppresses demyelination and enhances remyelination and butyrate is also lower at the same time as a downstream effect of the gut dysbiosis. The oral administration of butyrate significantly ameliorated demyelination, even though the accumulation of microglia into demyelinated lesions was not affected. Furthermore, we showed that butyrate treatment significantly suppressed lysolecithin-induced demyelination and enhanced remyelination in an organotypic slice culture in the presence or absence of microglia, suggesting that butyrate may affect oligodendrocytes directly. Butyrate treatment facilitated the differentiation of immature oligodendrocytes. Oral treatment with acetate showed mild improvement, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Oral treatment with propionate did not ameliorate demyelination so its butyrate so far from what I can see. https://jneuroinflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12974-019-1552-y

This research had mentioned that the 4EPS (4-ethylphenyl sulfate) metabolite, produced by bacteria that reside in the mouse gut, can travel to the brain and alter the function of brain oligodendrocytes cells which were altered. These cells are important in part because they produce a protein called myelin, which acts as a protective coating around neurons and nerve fibers called axons, like insulation around an electrical wire. The team found that in the presence of 4EPS, oligodendrocytes are less mature and consequently produce less myelin and also anxiety. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04396-8 Leaky gut occurs by the way with shank3 deficiency (or inflammation or zinc deficiency due to their relationship with shank3 where they both lower Shank3 levels).

Synaptic plasticity is the fundamental cellular mechanism of learning and memory, but recent research reveals that myelin-forming glia, oligodendrocytes (OL), are also involved https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-04116-y Copper interestingly is involved with alzheimers as mentioned elsewhere.

The myelin sheath is made of phospholipids whose synthesis depends on cytochrome c oxidase activity. Cytochrome c oxidase, the terminal oxidase in the electron transport chain, is copper dependent. They used a copper reducer to induce demyelination and this goes back to ceruloplasmin production needed to make copper and iron usable (bio available). Ceruloplasmin, a copper-containing acute phase plasma protein, has been shown to be regulated by 13-cis retinoic acid, a metabolite of Vitamin A https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3655940 which requires zinc in Vitamin A metabolism and therefore can be lowered over prolonged inflammation or infection due to lower uptake and availability of zinc.