In laboratory experiments, a chemical compound found in the shell of the cashew nut promotes the repair of myelin, a team from Vanderbilt University Medical Center reports today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
Myelin is a protective sheath surrounding nerves. Damage to this covering -- demyelination -- is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis and related diseases of the central nervous system.
"We see this as an exciting finding, suggesting a new avenue in the search for therapies to correct the ravages of MS and other demyelinating diseases," said the paper's senior author, Subramaniam Sriram, MBBS, William C. Weaver III Professor of Neurology and chief of the Division of Neuroimmunology.
Previous work led by Sriram showed that a protein called interleukin 33, or IL-33, induced myelin formation. IL-33 is, among other things, an immune response regulator, and multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder.
The cashew shell compound is called anacardic acid. Sriram and team grew interested in it because it's known to inhibit an enzyme involved in gene expression called histone acetyltransferase, or HAT, and the team had discovered that whatever inhibits HAT induces production of IL-33.
The report includes a range of new findings that point to potential therapeutic use of anacardic acid for demyelinating diseases:
"These are striking results that clearly urge further study of anarcardic acid for demyelinating diseases," Sriram said.
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Joining Sriram for the study were Asa Ljunggren-Rose, Chandramohan Natarajan, Pranathi Matta, Akansha Pandey and Isha Upender.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences