Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, have found that taking N-acetylglucosamine, a simple sugar compound that can be used as a dietary supplement, has helped ease MS patients’ inflammation levels and has the potential to promote myelin repair. Michael Demetriou, MD, PhD, the lead author of the study and MS specialist at UCI, has patients who have been taking the supplement for over 10 years with little to no side effects; he’s seen how well they’ve done with something as simple as a daily oral supplement. The research isn’t as far along as it is for BTK inhibitors and other drugs out there. “It’s a dietary supplement, so Big Pharma is not interested in developing this because there’s no profit motive,” said Demetriou. Because anyone can get their hands on N-acetylglucosamine supplements if they have $20, the research is being federally funded with the help of the National Institutes of Health’s Center for Human Immunology, Inflammation, and Autoimmunity. “What’s different about the other therapies is that they only have myelin repair activity, they can't treat the chronic active inflammation – I suspect you need both, that you need to first treat the chronic active inflammation and then be able to promote myelin repair,” he said. Sources Share