summary: The underlying processes in the brain and spinal cord tissue responsible for progression of disability in MS are still unknown. Moreover, it has been suggested that these underlying processes might be different in primary progressive and secondary progressive MS. The authors of this study have investigated the post-mortem nervous tissue coming from the spinal cord of people with PPMS, SPMS and also healthy controls. They found that, despite people with SPMS having more extensive areas of loss of myelin content (demyelination), people with PPMS had higher levels of axonal loss within such areas of demyelination. These findings would suggest that in PPMS axons are more vulnerable to damage in demyelinating lesions. The results of this study give us new insights on the underlying processes explaining progression.

authors: Tallantyre EC, Bø L, Al-Rawashdeh O, Owens T, Polman CH, Lowe J, Evangelou N

source: Brain. 2009 May;132(Pt 5):1190-9

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category: Pathology

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