8 September 2009

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MSIF News

Profile of the Month

Research News

MS News

Making Connections

Profile of the Month


	Summaries of news, views and achievements from people with MS around the world.

Profile of the Month : January 2010

Pavel Zlobin

Country: Russia
Age: 37
Type of MS: Secondary progressive
Year of Diagnosis: 1999

"MS is still neglected as people think it is a minor problem."

Deutsch English French Italiano Русский

Research News


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

Tobacco smoking, but not Swedish snuff use, increases the risk of multiple sclerosis

MS is a complex disease of autoimmune origin and unknown cause. The authors of this study have demonstrated that tobacco smokers had a higher risk of developing MS compared to non smokers, and this risk increased with increasing amount of cigarettes smoked. Since Swedish snuff users did not have an increased risk of MS, the authors stated that the increased risk of developing MS amongst smokers is not due to nicotine.

authors: Hedström AK, Bäärnhielm M, Olsson T, Alfredsson L

source: Neurology. 2009 Sep 1;73(9):696-701

Texture analysis of magnetization transfer maps from patients with clinically isolated syndrome and multiple sclerosis

The mechanisms underlying progression in MS are not yet fully understood. For this reason, new MRI techniques are continuously developing to accurately describe the pathological processes occurring in the central nervous system of people with MS. Amongst these new MRI techniques, magnetisation transfer imaging is a promising technique which can detect damage in the brain tissue that the more conventional techniques cannot. Texture analysis, a new way to analyse imaging data, applicable to all types of imaging, has also been developed. This provides an insight into the underlying pathology of the brain, as it is based on the study of the relationship between every small region in the brain with the surrounding small regions. The authors of this study have investigated the brains of people with a first episode suggestive of MS, people with MS and healthy controls using a texture analysis of the magnetisation transfer maps. In people with MS they found that the parameters resulting from this texture analysis correlated with the level of disability, highlighting the utility of this technique to help us to better understand the underlying pathology of MS.

authors: Tozer DJ, Marongiu G, Swanton JK, Thompson AJ, Miller DH

source: J Magn Reson Imaging. 2009 Sep;30(3):506-13

Pregnancy and multiple sclerosis: the initial results from a Brazilian database

The authors studied a Brazilian population of 49 women with MS during pregnancy, one of the largest series of cases reported in the literature. They investigated relapse rate and complications relating to immunomodulatory treatment exposure during pregnancy. The authors found that the relapse rate lowered significantly during pregnancy. They also found no correlation between parameters in early pregnancy such as exposure to different drugs, Expanded Disability Status Scale or disease duration, and poor gestational outcome, such as low birth weight, prematurity, birth defects and drug-related complications.

authors: Fragoso YD, Finkelsztejn A, Comini-Frota ER, da Gama PD, Grzesiuk AK, Khouri JM, Alves-Leon SV, Morales Rde R, Lana-Peixoto MA, Rocha CF

source: Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2009 Sep;67(3A):657-60

Intrathecal antibody production against Epstein-Barr and other neurotropic viruses in pediatric and adult onset multiple sclerosis

MS is a complex disease of autoimmune origin with an unknown cause. Viruses may play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease, for example Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a virus with a special ability to reach the central nervous system. The authors aimed to investigate to what extent EBV is involved in the pathogenesis of MS by comparing the frequency and intensity of antibody production within the central nervous system (CNS) against EBV, with the antibody production against other viruses also known for their ability to reach and involve the CNS (i.e. neurotropic viruses). Since the authors found that the production of antibodies within the CNS against EBV was not higher than the production against other neurotropic viruses, the results of this study do not support the theory that EBV has a direct role in the pathogenesis of the disease. However, evidence from previous studies suggests that EBV may play a role in MS. Therefore because the results of this study do not exclude an indirect pathogenic mechanism mediated by EBV, more studies are required.

authors: Pohl D, Rostasy K, Jacobi C, Lange P, Nau R, Krone B, Hanefeld F

source: J Neurol. 2009 Aug 28

Demographic and clinic characteristics of French patients treated with natalizumab in clinical practice

Natalizumab is one of the accepted treatments for MS. After the results of the main clinical trials were published, in 2006, its use has increased over time. The authors of this article aimed to investigate demographic and clinical characteristics of a French population with MS treated with natalizumab in clinical practice. This included studying tolerance and effectiveness of this drug, and comparing these findings with the results of one of the main clinical trials with natalizumab (AFFIRM). They found that, although the demographic characteristics of the French population were different from the population who participated in the AFFIRM trial, the results in terms of tolerability and effectiveness were very similar to the results from the trial, supporting the benefit of this drug for people with MS in actual clinical practice.

authors: Outteryck O, Ongagna JC, Zéphir H, Fleury MC, Lacour A, Blanc F, Vermersch P, de Sèze J

source: J Neurol. 2009 Aug 27

MS News


	Summaries of MS news from websites around the world.

MS World to host daily video bulletins from ECTRIMS

source: MS World

Dr Daniel Kantor, Medical Director, Neurologique, USA, will be filming daily bulletins for MS World from the European Committee for Treatment Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) congress, Düsseldorf, Germany from 9 -12 September 2009.

MS Society of Argentina organises Latin American photography auction

source: Esclerosis Múltiple Argentina

The MS Society of Argentina, Esclerosis Múltiple Argentina (EMA), will hold their 2nd photography auction on 29 September 2009, Buenos Aires Argentina.

Hopes for tailor-made multiple sclerosis treatment with mitoxantrone

source: MS Trust UK

In view of the potential severe side effects of new immune therapies for MS, research is now focused on the optimised use of established drugs with known side effect profiles.

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