Clinical observations in human autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) suggest a pivotal role of sex-related factors in the etiopathogenesis. These include a female preponderance in MS incidence and an increasing sex bias over time, a parent-of-origin effect in MS inheritance, and the protective effect of pregnancy on disease activity. The complex interplay of… Read more »
Archiv nach Monat:: Januar 2016
Characterizing the phenotype of multiple sclerosis-associated depression in comparison with idiopathic major depression.
BACKGROUND: Depression is a common co-morbidity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). While somatic symptoms of MS correlate with depression levels, it is unclear whether the clinical presentation of MS-associated depression differs from patients with „idiopathic“ major depressive disorder (MDD). OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical phenotype of depression among MS and idiopathic MDD patients. METHODS:… Read more »
Quantitative T2* mapping reveals early temporo-spatial dynamics in an ischemic stroke model.
BACKGROUND: Oxyhemoglobin-sensitive sequences, namely T2*, can indirectly depict changes in oxygen extraction. Purpose of this study was to investigate the dynamics of T2* changes in ischemic tissue. NEW METHOD: We investigated earliest temporo-spatial dynamics within ischemic tissue, measured with quantitative T2* imaging in the histologically defined infarct core and surrounding surviving tissue. Middle cerebral artery… Read more »
T1- Thresholds in Black Holes Increase Clinical-Radiological Correlation in Multiple Sclerosis Patients.
BACKGROUND: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an established tool in diagnosing and evaluating disease activity in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). While clinical-radiological correlations are limited in general, hypointense T1 lesions (also known as Black Holes (BH)) have shown some promising results. The definition of BHs is very heterogeneous and depends on subjective visual evaluation. OBJECTIVE: We… Read more »
Neuromyelitis optica: Evaluation of 871 attacks and 1,153 treatment courses.
OBJECTIVE: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) attacks often are severe, are difficult to treat, and leave residual deficits. Here, we analyzed the frequency, sequence, and efficacy of therapies used for NMO attacks. METHODS: A retrospective review was made of patient records to assess demographic/diagnostic data, attack characteristics, therapies, and the short-term remission status (complete remission [CR], partial… Read more »
Successful Replication of GWAS Hits for Multiple Sclerosis in 10,000 Germans Using the Exome Array.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) successfully identified various chromosomal regions to be associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). The primary aim of this study was to replicate reported associations from GWAS using an exome array in a large German study. German MS cases (n = 4,476) and German controls (n = 5,714) were genotyped using the Illumina… Read more »
Distinct functionality of neutrophils in multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica.
BACKGROUND: In contrast to multiple sclerosis (MS), lesions in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) frequently contain neutrophils. However, the phenotypic profile of neutrophils in these two distinct pathologies remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to better understand the potential contribution of neutrophils to NMO and MS pathology. METHODS: We performed the first functional analysis of blood neutrophils… Read more »
Immune and neurotrophin stimulation by electroconvulsive therapy: is some inflammation needed after all?
A low-grade inflammatory response is commonly seen in the peripheral blood of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients, especially those with refractory and chronic disease courses. However, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), the most drastic intervention reserved for these patients, is closely associated with an enhanced haematogenous as well as neuroinflammatory immune response, as evidenced by both human… Read more »
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