Hypertension drug offers hope.

• Position: Multiple Sclerosis - Hydralazine - Brief article

Evidence has been found that an environmental pollutant may play an important role in causing multiple sclerosis and that a hypertension drug might be used to treat the disease. The toxin acrolein is elevated by about 60% in the spinal cord tissues of those affected. Tile research results represent the first concrete laboratory evidence for a link between acrolein and multiple sclerosis.

"Only recently have researchers started to understand the details about what acrolein does to the human body." says Riyi Shi. professor of neuroscience and biomedical engineering at Purdue University. West Lafayette. Ind. 'We are studying its effects on the central nervous system, both in trauma and degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

The compound is an environmental toxin found in air pollutants that include tobacco smoke and auto exhaust. Acrolein also is produced within the body after nerve cells are damaged. Previous studies found that neuronal death caused by acrolein can be prevented by administering the drug bydralazine, a Food and Drug Administration-approved medication used to...