Multiple sclerosis is a terrible disease to have. A person who suffers from this disease has their nerves eaten away, and this causes serious disabilities. Worse, MS has no cure, but there are treatments which could speed up the person’s recovery. Now, it seems that a substance in cashew shells could be used in future treatments.
In laboratory experiments, a chemical compound found in the shell of the cashew nut promotes the repair of myelin, a team from Vanderbilt University Medical Center reports today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“We see this as an exciting finding, suggesting a new avenue in the search for therapies to correct the ravages of MS and other demyelinating diseases,” said the paper’s senior author, Subramaniam Sriram, MBBS, William C. Weaver III Professor of Neurology and chief of the Division of Neuroimmunology.
Previous work led by Sriram showed that a protein called interleukin 33, or IL-33, induced myelin formation. IL-33 is, among other things, an immune response regulator, and multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder.
More details about this study over at Neuroscience News.
(Image Credit: Femto/ Wikimedia Commons)
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