Dr. Mitzi Nagarkatti receives $2 million award from NIH to study the effect of phytonutrients on multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative autoimmune disease that affects approximately 350,000-500,000 people in North America alone.  In this disease, the immune system goes haywire and starts attacking the cells in the brain and spinal cord and trigger inflammation.  This causes nerve damage and can affect many parts of the body causing a wide range of symptoms including numbness, weakness and paralysis.  Currently, there is cure for MS and the precise reasons that lead to inflammation are not completely understood. 

Dr. Mitzi Nagarkatti’s laboratory in the department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, has been investigating the mechanisms that activate the immune system leading to inflammation in the brain and spinal cord.  Her team has identified that a receptor called AhR (Aryl hydrocarbon receptor) expressed on immune cells can regulate inflammation during MS.  Interestingly, phytonutrients found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage were found to inhibit the AhR  thereby suppressing inflammation seen in MS.  These studies were performed using an experimental model of MS.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in collaboration with the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invited applications to study the mechanisms of action of promising natural products.  Dr. Nagarkatti’s  NIH grant was funded for 5 years in response to this program announcement and was one of the 2-4 awards given out nationally.  Other investigators in this grant include Dr. Prakash Nagarkatti and Dr. Narendra Singh.  Dr. Nagarkatti’s research will focus on epigenetic alterations caused by the phytonutrients including effects on DNA methylation and microRNAs to understand precisely how the phytonutrients regulate the immune system by acting on AhR.  Identifying such pathways may offer novel tools for diagnosis and treatment of MS.