Motor chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 17 patients: Clinical characteristics, electrophysiological study, and response to treatment.

Motor chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a rare and poorly described subtype of CIDP. We aimed to study their clinical and electrophysiological characteristics and response to treatment. From a prospective database of CIDP patients, we included patients with definite or probable CIDP with motor signs and without sensory signs/symptoms at diagnosis.

Investigation of seven proposed regions of linkage in multiple sclerosis: an American and French collaborative study.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating autoimmune disease with a strong yet complex genetic component. To date only the HLA-DR locus, and specifically the HLA-DR15 allele, has been identified and confirmed as influencing the risk of developing MS. Genomic screens on several datasets have been performed and have identified several chromosomal regions with interesting results, but none have yet been confirmed.

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1: a protective haplotype against multiple sclerosis.

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and its receptors are adhesion molecules that play a key role in the transmigration of inflammatory cells through the blood-brain barrier, one of the earliest events in multiple sclerosis (MS), which leads to demyelination in the central nervous system. To investigate the role of genes encoding ICAM-1 and its receptors, we used a strategy of genetic linkage and association in 439 case-parent MS families of French origin, well characterized according to HLA status and severity. We demonstrate that the genes encoding ICAM-1 receptors do not influence MS susceptibility or severity.

[Andermann syndrome in an Algerian family: suggestion of phenotype and genetic homogeneity].

Andermann syndrome or Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum with Polyneuropathy (MIM 218000) is an autosomal recessive disease almost exclusively found in Québec. Only few cases have been reported in other populations. The locus for Andermann syndrome was assigned to chromosome 15q13-q15 in French Canadian families.