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news.The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation have committed a grant of $3.8m to investigate the complex interplay between degeneration and inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS).
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University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute will utilize the funds to study the damage that occurs in MS prior to inflammation.
To date, central nervous system (CNS) damage in MS has been attributed to an autoimmune attack, where inflammation causes the hallmark patches of demyelination.
The primary collaborators of the study include colleagues from the University of Calgary, the University of British Columbia, and Laval University and the VU University in Amsterdam.
University of Calgary Department of Clinical Neurosciences lead researcher Peter Stys said the study hypothesizes that the inflammatory response in MS is caused by an underlying degenerative process rather than the primary cause of injury.
"In other words, an underlying mechanism causes degeneration that prompts the inflammatory process, which in turn causes more degeneration," Stys added.