summary: The authors aimed to investigate the mechanisms of spinal cord repair and their contribution to clinical recovery in people with MS after a cervical cord relapse. They used new MRI techniques which explore metabolite concentrations and tissue volumes in the spinal cord. They found that people who had a greater increase of a specific metabolite called NAA, which mainly reflects mitochondrial activity in the axon, had a greater clinical recovery. This suggests that mitochondrial metabolism plays a role in the mechanism of cord repair after a cord relapse in people with MS. They also found that this possible repair mechanism seemed less efficient in patients with longer disease duration.

authors: Ciccarelli O, Altmann DR, McLean MA, Wheeler-Kingshott CA, Wimpey K, Miller DH, Thompson AJ

source: Neurology. 2010 Jan 27

weblink: click here

category: Imaging

related research news: click here

glossary: