Researchers hail narcolepsy breakthrough
Published: February 10, 2005
Australian researchers on Thursday announced they have discovered an antibody that triggers narcolepsy, opening the way for the development of a test and treatment for the disabling sleep disorder.
Scientists at the Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide studied antibodies produced by the immune systems of sufferers of narcolepsy, a disease which can cause people suddenly to fall asleep anywhere and at any time.
The researchers said they found an auto-antibody - an antibody that acts against a person’s own tissue - in narcoleptics that enhanced the activity of the nervous system outside of the brain.
“This finding provides the first direct evidence that auto-immunity plays a role in this fascinating sleep disorder,” researcher Tom Gordon said.
“There is no simple diagnostic test for narcolepsy and current medications used to treat the disorder, such as anti-depressants, can have serious side effects,” he said.
“The auto-antibody represents a diagnostic marker which could lead to improved diagnostic testing such as a simple blood test, and the development of specific immune therapies to target the auto-antibody for better management of the disorder,” he said.
Gordon said the Flinders team would now focus on finding out where and how the auto-antibody was acting.
Researchers have long believed the auto-immunity system could play an important role in narcolepsy, but research until now has failed to identify a specific auto-antibody in the disorder, Gordon said
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