Immune System Reboot in MS Patients

Wiping out unwanted immune cells

14-Nov-2022 - Blood stem cell transplantation is a radical but highly effective therapy for multiple sclerosis. A study led by the University of Zurich has now examined in detail the way in which the treatment curbs the autoimmune disease and how the immune system regenerates afterwards. A better understanding ...

Good immune defenses come with a risk of multiple sclerosis

How genetic predisposition contributes to the development of the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis in combination with environmental factors

26-Oct-2020 - About half of the people with multiple sclerosis have the HLA-DR15 gene variant. A study led by the University of Zurich has now shown how this genetic predisposition contributes to the development of the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis in combination with environmental factors. The ...

Link between Gut Flora and Multiple Sclerosis Discovered

12-Oct-2018 - In multiple sclerosis, a defective response of the body’s own immune system leads to brain tissue damage. Gastrointestinal microbiota could play a far greater role in the pathogenesis of the disease than previously assumed, researchers at the University of Zurich have now found. Multiple ...

B Cells Among Factors Leading to Brain Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis

05-Sep-2018 - A team of researchers the University of Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich has shown that in multiple sclerosis, it is not only specific T cells that cause inflammation and lesions in the brain. B cells, a different type of immune cell, also play a role. These cells activate T cells in the ...

Autophagy triggers autoimmune disease

14-Dec-2017 - Autophagy allows cells to degrade and recycle their cellular components. Researchers at UZH have now demonstrated that the autophagy machinery in certain immune cells leads to the immune system attacking the central nervous system. The researchers are using these findings as a basis to look into ...

Vaccination on the horizon for severe viral infection of the brain

Researchers reveal possible new treatment methods for fatal brain disease.

25-Sep-2015 - Humans carry a multitude of viruses and bacteria in their gut, on their skin and in other organs. Often, these are involved in important bodily functions. Under certain conditions, however, some can also cause diseases. The JC virus, a member of the polyoma tumor virus family, is a prime example. ...

Multiple sclerosis: T cells as serial killers

16-Oct-2009 - In multiple sclerosis, the immune system also damages the nerve cells with its misguided activities. This is what regularly happens in the targeted immunological attack on the myelin sheaths of the nerve cells, as shown experimentally for the first time by researchers from Würzburg and ...