Making Connections

Research News


	Summaries of all the latest research findings on MS selected by a team based at the Institute of Neurology, London.

Brain abnormalities in neuromyelitis optica

Historically neuromyelitis optica (NMO) was thought to be distinguishable from MS through the relative lack of brain lesions on MRI. Brain lesions are now increasingly recognised as part of the NMO spectrum and this paper reports the incidence and distribution of brain lesions in a Korean cohort.

The authors found brain lesions to be present in 11 out of 17 patients studied, with the majority of patients having more than 2 lesions. Cerebral white matter was most frequently involved (58.8%). Corpus callosum, internal capsule, cerebellum and brainstem lesions were also noted. There were 5 patients who met the Paty et al. criteria (1988) and 3 patients who met the multiple sclerosis (MS) Barkhof criteria in their brain MRI.

The authors suggest that these results provide valuable information for future revisions of the diagnostic criteria for NMO.

authors: Kim JE, Kim SM, Ahn SW, Lim BC, Chae JH, Hong YH, Park KS, Sung JJ, Lee KW.

source: J Neurol Sci. 2011 Mar 15;302(1-2):43-8. Epub 2011 Jan 13.

Cup to disc ratio by optical coherence tomography is abnormal in multiple sclerosis

Using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), the authors characterised cup to disc ratio (CDR) in 105 patients with MS. CDR compares the diameter of the cup portion of the optic disc with the total diameter of the disc, and is used by ophthalmologists in the evaluation of glaucoma. Amongst the differences found between MS patients and controls were that the average CDR (p=0.007) and vertical CDR (p=0.005) were greater in MS patients compared to healthy controls, while neuro-retinal rim area was decreased in MS patients (p=0.001).

The authors suggest that CDR and related optic nerve head metrics may represent an objective measure by which to monitor disease progression, and potentially neuroprotection, in therapeutic MS trials.

authors: Syc SB, Warner CV, Saidha S, Farrell SK, Conger A, Bisker ER, Wilson J, Frohman TC, Frohman EM, Balcer LJ, Calabresi PA.

source: J Neurol Sci. 2011 Mar 15;302(1-2):19-24. Epub 2011 Jan 11.

Prevention of clinical and histological signs of proteolipid protein (PLP)-induced experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice by the water-soluble carbon monoxide-releasing molecule (CORM)-A1

The authors of this study found that CORM-A1; a molecule that releases carbon monoxide when given prophylactically to SJL mice improved the clinical and histopathological signs of EAE, and suggest that CORM-A1 might represent a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis in the future.

authors: Fagone P, Mangano K, Quattrocchi C, Motterlini R, Di Marco R, Magro G, Penacho N, Romao CC, Nicoletti F.

source: Clin Exp Immunol. 2011 Mar;163(3):368-74. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2010.04303.x. Epub 2011 Jan 14.

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