Efficacy of Anti-Tubercular Vaccination in Multiple Sclerosis

Summary

The frequency of auto-immune diseases (including multiple sclerosis) is increasing in industrialised countries. According to an hypothesis which is receiving a wide international credit, this may be due to the fact that the populations of these countries are increasingly less exposed to microbes further to the improvement of hygienic conditions and to the use of antibiotics. If exposure to microbes is lacking, also their regulatory function is missed with a consequent possible onset of auto-immune symptoms. For this reason, it is deemed that by exposing the immune system of a patient to an ancient microbe, being complex and important in man evolution, like the Tuberculosis Mycobacterium, it is possible to rebalance the immune system.

Timeline

Start

2001-11

Primary completion

2007-09

Completion

2008-04

Publications

• Background Ristori G, Buzzi MG, Sabatini U, Giugni E, Bastianello S, Viselli F, Buttinelli C, Ruggieri S, Colonnese C, Pozzilli C, Salvetti M. Use of Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) in multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 1999 Oct 22;53(7):1588-9. doi: 10.1212/wnl.53.7.1588.
• Background Salvetti M, Pisani A, Bastianello S, Millefiorini E, Buttinelli C, Pozzilli C. Clinical and MRI assessment of disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis after influenza vaccination. J Neurol. 1995 Feb;242(3):143-6. doi: 10.1007/BF00936886.
• Background Confavreux C, Suissa S, Saddier P, Bourdes V, Vukusic S; Vaccines in Multiple Sclerosis Study Group. Vaccinations and the risk of relapse in multiple sclerosis. Vaccines in Multiple Sclerosis Study Group. N Engl J Med. 2001 Feb 1;344(5):319-26. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200102013440501.
• Background Rook GA, Ristori G, Salvetti M, Giovannoni G, Thompson EJ, Stanford JL. Bacterial vaccines for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders. Immunol Today. 2000 Oct;21(10):503-8. doi: 10.1016/s0167-5699(00)01700-x. No abstract available.
• Background Buttinelli C, Salvetti M, Ristori G. Vaccinations and multiple sclerosis. N Engl J Med. 2001 Jun 7;344(23):1794; author reply 1795-6. No abstract available.
• Background O'Riordan JI, Thompson AJ, Kingsley DP, MacManus DG, Kendall BE, Rudge P, McDonald WI, Miller DH. The prognostic value of brain MRI in clinically isolated syndromes of the CNS. A 10-year follow-up. Brain. 1998 Mar;121 ( Pt 3):495-503. doi: 10.1093/brain/121.3.495.
• Background Brex PA, O'Riordan JI, Miszkiel KA, Moseley IF, Thompson AJ, Plant GT, Miller DH. Multisequence MRI in clinically isolated syndromes and the early development of MS. Neurology. 1999 Oct 12;53(6):1184-90. doi: 10.1212/wnl.53.6.1184.

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Indications