Researchers have identified two types of estrogens that show promising effectiveness in alleviating the symptoms of progressive multiple sclerosis: estradiol and estriol.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center in the United States, and their results were published in the Journal of Neuroimmunology last July, and the Eurek Alert website wrote about it.
About 100,000 people out of a million people with multiple sclerosis in the United States suffer from an advanced form of the disease, with symptoms constantly worsening or after periods of remission.
Multiple sclerosis is believed to occur when the immune system attacks the myelin sheath – the protective covering of nerve fibers that transmit electrical impulses throughout the body – and disrupts this communication.
Symptoms include fatigue, numbness or tingling, bladder and bowel problems, and cognitive problems, but difficulty walking and balance are the most common symptoms, and are more noticeable in the advanced form of the disease.
Control symptoms
The team evaluated estriol and estradiol as potential treatment protocols through a study that used a virus to mimic progressive multiple sclerosis.
“While women are more likely to develop multiple sclerosis than men, once they are pregnant they tend to go into remission,” said study co-author Jane Welsh, a neuroimmunologist at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
“This is because estradiol and estriol levels rise during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester,” explained Candice Brinkmeyer-Langford, study co-author and an expert in obstetric neurology at Texas A&M University School of Public Health.
“Even women with multiple sclerosis who take oral contraceptives have fewer symptoms and fewer relapses, so we evaluated how these hormones affect the myelin sheath,” she added.
Estradiol is stronger than estriol, and is used in hormone replacement therapy for women after menopause.
The researchers found that both types of estrogen reduce inflammation in the spinal cord, but only estradiol significantly reduces damage to the myelin sheath, and they believe this may contribute to the development of therapeutic interventions for people with progressive multiple sclerosis.