Proof Of Principle In Oral Tolerance

Researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in the USA have reported studies demonstrating that white blood cells from multiple sclerosis patients receiving AutoImmune's Myloral (oral bovine myelin) produce immune-regulating hormones that may suppress the disease. The studies, reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (July 1996), are the first to demonstrate the cellular mechanism of oral tolerance in humans.

Myloral's clinical efficacy and safety as an orally-administered treatment for MS is currently being evaluated in a Phase III, 515-patient, randomized, double-blind clinical trial, which is expected to be completed in the spring of next year. In the studies reported in the JCI, the researchers isolated 4,860 T lymphocyte lines from 34 MS patients. 17 patients had received Myloral for at least two years.