INTERVIEW
"In France, it is estimated that there are approximately 110,000 patients suffering from multiple sclerosis", says Professor Catherine Lubetzki, at the microphone of Europe 1. Guest of the program Sans Rendez-vous , Thursday, the one who directs the Neurology department of Pitié Salpêtrière, in Paris, stresses that each year, "between 4,000 and 5,000 new cases" are diagnosed. Also co-director of a research team at the Brain Institute (ICM), the specialist is optimistic about the studies carried out with a view to discovering new treatments against this inflammatory, "demyelinating" and neurodegenerative disease which, when it occurs, generally starts around 30 years of age.
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Promote repair of myelin
At the Brain Institute, "several teams are working on multiple sclerosis," says the neurologist. "In our research team, we are trying to prevent degenerative damage and promote the repair of myelin".
Myelin is this sheath that envelops the axons (an extension of the neurons), and allows the acceleration of the transmission of nervous influx. In the case of multiple sclerosis, lesions (plaques) appear in the brain and spinal cord, destroying this myelin. This is what causes the neurodegenerative nature of the disease and leads - depending on the area where these lesions are located - to vision problems or to the installation of disabilities, often a gait disorder.
There has been "great progress" in research on the "relapsing" forms of the disease, continues Prof. Catherine Lubtzki. "What remains difficult is to treat the progressive phase of the disease." There are, in fact, several forms of multiple sclerosis. The relapsing form which, "in 75% of the cases, evolves in the form of pushes", with phases of remission; the progressive form from the start, in which the disease knows no "breaks" and is accompanied by the installation of handicaps; finally, the intermediate form, which is developed after 15 or 20 years, by some patients who have already had a remitting form.
"We are in a very positive spiral"
The "current therapeutic challenge" is based on the treatment of the progressive phase, explains the neurologist, adding that certain drugs, immuno-depressants, have shown "a small effect" in some patients. "There are currently a lot of therapeutic trials going on to target this progressive phase of the disease." At the ICM as in other research teams around the world, the challenge lies in the "development of therapeutic and clinical strategies aimed at promoting the repair of lesions" that destroy myelin.
"It is a very active path," insists Pr. Lubetzki, who mentions between 12 and 15 therapeutic trials "in phase 2", targeting remyelination. Studies which, for some, have already shown promising results. "It is too early to say that we have a drug for these patients, but we are really in a very positive spiral," says the neurologist. "I think that in 18 months / two years, we will have answers," she continues. "If it works, we will go to phase 3, which leads to the provision of treatment."