|
|
November 10, 2004
Packard Center Commentary:
RESULTS OF CELEBREX TRIAL REPORTED
Results of a one-year study of the drug Celebrex, to see if it might be
useful against ALS, have just been released. Celebrex is an anti-inflammatory
medicine, commonly used to treat arthritis. And the study, which enrolled
300 people with ALS at 25 medical centers across the country, was based
on principles brought to light by Packard Center scientists.
“Careful analysis of the data from the Celebrex trials showed no
apparent benefit for those who took the drug,” says Packard researcher,
Daniel Drachman, who initiated the study and was instrumental in getting
it underway. “Naturally, we’re disappointed.”
But both he and Center Director Jeffrey Rothstein, who teamed on preclinical
work with Celebrex, say that important questions remain. “We don’t
know if the lack of a good effect is because the drug itself wasn’t
helpful or if it wasn’t able to reach target tissues,” says
Rothstein. An announcement put out by the Northeast ALS Consortium, the
association of 25 academic medical centers which conducted the trial,
says more study is underway to try to explain the results.
Celebrex inhibits a key enzyme, called COX-2, that’s on cell pathways
leading to inflammation. COX-2 is also involved, though indirectly, in
release of the neurotransmitter glutamate from astrocytes, cells in the
nervous system that support nerve cell function. In excess, glutamate
is toxic to neurons and other cells. Scientists recognize this “excitotoxicity”
as a major destructive process in ALS.
Aware of the reported tie between COX-2 and excitotoxicity, Drachman
and Rothstein began early experiments to see if blocking COX-2 would be
helpful. They saw that inhibiting COX-2 clearly protected motor neurons
when rat spinal cords in a culture dish were put in an excitotoxic situation.
They also determined that halting COX-2 action in mouse models of ALS
significantly lengthened the animals’ lives and slowed onset of
their symptoms. “We had strong reasons to carry this research to
ALS patients,” says Drachman. The subsequent clinical trials were
well-designed, he says, and carried out carefully. “Now we hope
to find why we got these results.”
The clinical research discussed above was supported by the Muscular Dystrophy
Association and Pfizer Inc., who makes Celebrex. Part of it took place at
the Johns Hopkins ALS clinic associated with the Robert Packard Center for
ALS Research at Johns Hopkins.
>>more Recent
News
|
|
|
|
| Recent news from the Robert Packard Center
for ALS Research: |
| In ALS, It’s Not the Number of Ailing Astrocytes That Counts - June 12, 2008 |
| Leaky Blood Vessels Add To ALS Damage, Could Offer New Repair Site - June 10, 2008 |
| William H. Adams Foundation Pumps New Energy, Funds into Search for ALS Cure - May 6, 2008 |
| Tell-Tale Protein Clumping in ALS is Less Complex Than Expected - April 10, 2008 |
ALS Mouse Study Highlights Astrocytes' Strong Potential as Therapy Target - February 7, 2008 |
| Exciting New Human ALS Trial: Lithium and Riluzole - February 7, 2008 |
| ALS Treatment: A Matter of Cleaning House? - December 19, 2007 |
New Study Brings What Goes Wrong in Inherited ALS into Focus - September 18, 2007 |
| New ALS Protein Could Be a Keystone - August 9, 2007 |
| Muscles More Than Passive Victims in ALS, Study Suggests - June 29, 2007 |
| Saer and O’Neill Named Packard Center Board Co-Chairs - June 28, 2007 |
Self-Attack? Self-Repair? First Real Look at Gene Activity in ALS Models Sparks Thirst for Answers - May 3, 2007 |
| Model of Accelerated Familial ALS Sheds Light on Disease Process - April 6, 2007 |
| Early News From First Large Search for Sporadic ALS Genes - February 20, 2007 |
| Human Stem Cell Transplants Mature Into Neurons and Make Contacts in Rat Spinal Cord - February 14, 2007 |
|
