Brain repair in multiple sclerosis

Over 100,000 people in the UK have multiple sclerosis (MS). Licensed drugs can reduce the chance of having MS attacks but people with MS are still left with disability.

This is because after an attack the nerves have no insulating covering of myelin. Laboratory work in Cambridge showed that certain drugs can wake up stem cells in the brain to repair myeli.

We tested whether the anti-cancer drug bexarotene can repair myelin in people with MS.

We gave bexarotene or placebo to 50 people with MS for 6 months. At the beginning and the end of the study, these participants had a MRI scan of the brain and a “VEP” (Visual Evoked Potentials) test to see how quickly signals travel from the eye to the brain.

People on bexarotene had quicker “VEP” signals and, in some parts of the brain, improved MS scars seen on MRI scans, showing that myelin has been repaired. Unfortunately, the side effects of the drug were too severe to consider further development with bexarotene.

© Copyright - NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre 2025