Making Connections

MSIF News


	Summaries of new MSIF activities, events, projects, programmes, resources, publications and more.

MSIF announces 2010 research grants and fellowships

MSIF is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2010 McDonald Fellowships and Du Pré Grants.

Research News


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

Vitamin D metabolites are associated with clinical and MRI outcomes in multiple sclerosis patients

The authors investigated the role of Vitamin D in brain tissue injury and clinical disability in Multiple Sclerosis. They studied 193 people with MS using serum samples to measure 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. Disability was assessed with the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), the MS Severity Scale (MSSS) and with MRI. They concluded that Vitamin D metabolites could have protective associations with disability and with brain atrophy in people with MS.

authors: Weinstock-Guttman B, Zivadinov R, Qu J, Cookfair D, Duan X, Bang E, Bergsland N, Hussein S, Cherneva M, Willis L, Heininen-Brown M, Ramanathan M.

source: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2010 Nov 3.

The emerging role of vitamin D binding protein in multiple sclerosis

A growing body of evidence supports a role for vitamin D in Multiple Sclerosis aetiology. The Vitamin D binding protein in the cerebrospinal fluid seems correlated with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) course, being lower during relapses and higher in the secondary progressive phase. The authors concluded that further studies are needed to elucidate the potential use of this specific protein as a biological marker of MS course that could be a useful diagnostic tool for the prediction of MS development and progression.

authors: Disanto G, Ramagopalan SV, Para AE, Handunnetthi L.

source: J Neurol. 2010 Nov 2

Extracranial venous stenosis is an unlikely cause of multiple sclerosis

Extracranial venous stenosis (EVS) has recently been implicated as the primary cause of multiple sclerosis (MS). The authors studied 42 people with early MS (EMS): clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) of less than 5 years duration, and late MS (LMS): RRMS of more than 10 years duration. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical relapse data were reviewed for all people with EVS. They concluded that EVS is an unlikely cause of MS since it is not present in most individuals early in the disease and rarely involves more than one extracranial vein. It is likely to be a late secondary phenomenon.

authors: Yamout B, Herlopian A, Issa Z, Habib RH, Fawaz A, Salame J, Wadih A, Awdeh H, Muallem N, Raad R, Al-Kutoubi A.

source: Mult Scler. 2010 Nov;16(11):1341-8.

Comparison of MRI sequences for evaluation of multiple sclerosis of the cervical spinal cord at 3T

The authors compared different specific sequences for evaluation of multiple sclerosis lesions (T1 weighted STIR, traditional STIR and T2 fast spin echo (FSE). They concluded that the new "T1 weighted STIR" appears to be the most sensitive, showing potential promise as an alternative method to monitor demyelinating lesions in MS.

authors: Philpott C, Brotchie P.

source: Eur J Radiol. 2010 Oct 30.

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