ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms
New role for Actos in MS
October 8, 2009 7:00 AM UTC
Industry has targeted peroxisome proliferation-activated receptors for metabolic indications since the 1990s. Now, a paper by German researchers suggests the PPAR agonist Actos pioglitazone could be useful for treating multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.1
The study assessed the effect of pioglitazone on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a widely used mouse model for MS. The drug appears to block the development of T helper type 17 (Th17) cells, which are implicated in autoimmunity.2...