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Being able to correctly monitor the level of MS activity is always important in clinical care, but particularly so during a clinical drug trial where the ability for a new drug to stop MS activity is being assessed. Currently, monitoring progression of MS over time in clinical trials is challenging and there is no one test which can accurately make that assessment.Â
We currently know that as MS progresses, inflammatory cells within the brain called microglia are active, and likely to be contributing to disease progression over time. However, there are different types of microglia, pathogenic (indicating active disease) and reparative (indicating a repairing phase and less disease activity). At present, there is no way to distinguish between the two types of microglia to measure the microglial response and to know if MS progression is occurring.Â
Dr Vivash and her team aim to develop techniques to identify both the extent and the nature of this microglial response. They plan on doing this by developing a new compound to be used in a non-invasive PET (positron emission tomography) scan to determine the level of disease activity and MS progression. This could help fill an unmet need in clinical trials for new MS drugs by helping to identify effective drugs to treat progressive MS sooner and more accurately.Â
Over the past year, Dr Vivash and her team have focused on making changes to the chemical structure of the tracer compounds they had identified for use in PET imaging. The changes were aimed at increasing how readily the compounds enter the brain and how quickly they leave. Previously, the compounds left the brain too quickly and were not useful for imaging in MS.Â
The team created several new compounds and found some that work better for brain imaging. They also improved their laboratory model to better detect these imaging agents. This included using specific treatments to increase the presence of a target protein in the brain, making it easier to see if the imaging agents are effective.Â
Next, they plan to add radioactive labels to the best compounds and test them further. The project received a global linkage grant of $1 million AUD from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER), Australia. The team also forged new collaborations with international organisations, including Life Molecular Imaging in Germany, Cyclotek (Aust), and Novartis in Basel, which will help accelerate their work. Despite some delays due to COVID-19 and changes in the team, the project is on track and showing promising results for better MS diagnosis. Â
$235,000
2021
3 years
Current project
