UConn looking for MS patients for on-going study

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FARMINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) There is promising research for patients with multiple sclerosis. The on-going study at UConn Health Center is looking for more people with MS to sign up.

Unlocking the cause for auto-immune diseases like Mutiple Sclerosis has proved challenging. But millions of dollars of research funding from the National MS Society has led UConn researchers to discover a strong link that could affect treatment.

Its in the UConn Health Center laboratory, where research scientist Dr. Robert Clark and his team are studying the role of gastro-intestinal bacteria in auto-immune diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, which attacks the central nervous system.

Can the bacteria in the GI Tract affect diseases like this? said Clark.

In a small study comparing blood samples of MS patients with a control group, the lead investigator found a link.

This is a group of typical bacteria that we believe that are in the gastrointestinal tract, said Clark.

While the bacteria was common to both the levels of a certain molecule it secretes were not.

In 17 out of 17 MS patients, all of them had very low levels of this molecule, said Clark.

In animal studies they found even more significant findings.

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UConn looking for MS patients for on-going study