UWM Professor Works to Unlock the Destructive Forces of Multiple Sclerosis

Jeri-Anne Lyons

To better understand the pathology of multiple sclerosis (MS), Jeri-Anne Lyons, assistant professor of clinical laboratory sciences in the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s College of Health Science’s, studies the immune response in MS patients. Once the destructive forces involved in MS are discovered, more effective therapies may be developed.

MS is a devastating disease that strikes people in the prime of life. It is a common cause of chronic neurological disability in young adults in North America and Europe, commonly affecting women between the ages of 20 and 30. Four hundred thousand Americans are living with MS, and 200 new cases are diagnosed each week. While MS does not dramatically affect life expectancy, it seriously affects one’s quality of life.

The clinical course of MS is unpredictable, but is typically characterized by neurologic symptoms, including visual disturbances, muscle weakness or paralysis from which patients may or may not completely recover. The disease is caused by destruction of the myelin sheath in the central nervous system (CNS) by the body’s own immune system. Many patients progress to limited mobility within 10 years.

Lyons, along with several colleagues, is researching two types of cells. B cells are immune cells that produce antibodies, which are normally important in combating infections. However, evidence supports a destructive role for these antibodies in the MS disease process. T cells are the immune cells that are thought to initiate MS. Everyone has T cells that are capable of reacting to CNS myelin. However, only in MS patients do these cells become activated, leading to disease. Lyons’ laboratory seeks to understand how each of these cells contributes to the onset and clinical course of MS.

Current therapies for MS are costly and only partially effective. Research such as Lyons’ is the critical key to alternative therapies for MS – therapies that will ultimately improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands.

URL: http://www.uwm.edu/News/Features/06.06/CHS_MS.html
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