New global trial testing oral therapy for MS spasticity

The University of Cincinnati's Shahla Hosseini, MD, PhD, was featured in a Multiple Sclerosis (MS) News Today article discussing a new international clinical trial testing an oral drug that enhances naturally occurring molecules in the body to help muscles relax as a treatment for spasticity in patients with MS.

Many patients with MS experience spasticity, which causes muscles to resist being stretched, leading to pain, impaired function, decreased mobility and poorer quality of life.

“Physicians who treat muscle spasticity have a limited number of medications from which to choose. In the past 20 to 30 years, we haven’t seen development of new effective oral medications to treat spasticity in the United States,” said Hosseini, adjunct associate professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine in UC’s College of Medicine and a UC Health physician. “The majority of the currently available oral medications have side effects like drowsiness, which limits their usefulness during the daytime, and so we really need a new effective treatment for spasticity that’s better tolerated by patients.”

The body naturally produces molecules called endocannabinoids that help muscles relax and play a role in other functions, including regulating mood, pain and sleep, Hosseini explained. The trial drug is designed to inhibit two enzymes that break down endocannabinoids, monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), allowing the endocannabinoids to help regulate the overly reactive spastic muscles.

Read the MS News Today article.

Read more about the research.

Featured photo at top of a person with knee stiffness. Photo/PonyWang/iStock Photo.