This is news that will interest the 80,000 people with multiple sclerosis in France. : a team made up of researchers from Inserm and CNRS has just shown that testosterone (as well as a similar synthetic molecule) makes it possible to regenerate the cells responsible for the production of myelin. Of course, this operation was performed on mice, but this experiment on testosterone and its derivatives is a promising target for the treatment of diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
MS: first symptoms around 25-30 years old
The first signs of multiple sclerosis appear around the age of thirty: this pathology is the leading cause of severe non-traumatic disability in those in their thirties. This chronic disease of the central nervous system affects two to three times more women than men. When a person has MS, their defense system revs up and attacks their own cells, especially myelin: the membrane that is used to insulate and protect nerve fibers, like the plastic around electrical wires. .
Attacked by lymphocytes, the myelin sheaths are gradually altered and they no longer play their role correctly in the propagation of nerve impulses along neurons. This is called the demyelination process.
MS: the role of hormones
Scientists already knew that the disease had a hormonal component. Indeed, women are twice as affected as men. In addition, pregnant women with multiple sclerosis do better during pregnancy when their hormone levels are high.
In a press release, the CNRS explains that for this new study, the researchers first caused chronic demyelination in mice, similar to that observed during the progressive phase of multiple sclerosis. The mice were then treated with testosterone for 6 to 9 weeks. As a result, their nerve fibers were myelinated again and their symptoms improved remarkably. The same effects were obtained using a synthetic analogue of testosterone.
“These results pave the way for the use of androgens to promote myelin regeneration. Additional work should also focus on the possibility of using blood testosterone levels as biomarkers to assess the progression of demyelinating diseases, ”the researchers conclude.
