Autoimmune disease

Patient sample and mouse studies suggest inhibiting CASP1 could help treat MS. In patient postmortem brain tissue samples, levels of CASP1 were higher than in samples from unaffected subjects. In the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of MS, the CASP1 inhibitor VX-765 decreased neurobehavioral deficit scores and pyroptosis -- a type of inflammasome-mediated cell death -- and levels of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β in spinal cord microglia and oligodendrocytes compared with vehicle. Next steps could include identifying and testing other CASP1 inhibitors in mouse models of MS...