6 Sep 2016

The immune system - when does a friend become an enemy?

From Nine To Noon, 9:35 am on 6 September 2016

What happens when the system to protect our bodies effectively does the opposite? What is it that causes the immune system to attack its own healthy cells and tissues?

Professor of Immunology at Victoria University Anne La Flamme, has spent over 20 years researching auto-immunity.

Auto immunity image collage

Auto immunity image collage Photo: supplied

She also heads the Multiple Sclerosis Research Programme at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research and is currently running a trial looking at new treatments for MS, one of the myriad illnesses caused by auto-immunity.

The trial at Wellington hospital is looking at the use of drugs commonly used to treat schizophrenia to see if they can be effective in treating the progressive form of MS.

People with progressive MS experience a steady deterioration of their symptoms, as opposed to the episodic, relapse-remitting form of the disease.

Research now shows a there is an inflammatory factor involved in schizophrenia which could help with future MS therapy.

“In schizophrenia, which you would not expect to have the immune system involved, we have more recently realised it’s a level of chronic inflammation that can be promoting that process.”

MS is caused when the immune system attacks myelin, a kind of sheath that protects nerves.

Professor La Flamme is looking for people with the progressive form of MS to participate in a trial to see whether two commonly used drugs to treat schizophrenia might also have therapeutic benefits for them.