The Canadian Collaborative Project on Genetic Susceptibility to Multiple Sclerosis cohort population structure and disease etiology.

Background: Previous genetic and epidemiological studies have examined subpopulations from the Canadian Collaborative Project on Genetic Susceptibility to Multiple Sclerosis (CCPGSMS) patient cohort, but an encompassing analysis of the study population has not yet been carried out.

Objective: This study examines patterns of multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence in 13,663 cohort members, including 4,821 patients with MS or suspected MS and 8,842 family members.

Methods: We grouped participants into epidemiologic subgroups based on age of MS onset, clinical stage at diagnosis, symptom type at disease onset, sex, proband status, disability as measured by the EDSS, and ancestry based on reported ethnicity.

A Whole-Genome Sequencing Study Implicates GRAMD1B in Multiple Sclerosis Susceptibility.

While the role of common genetic variants in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been elucidated in large genome-wide association studies, the contribution of rare variants to the disease remains unclear. Herein, a whole-genome sequencing study in four affected and four healthy relatives of a consanguineous Italian family identified a novel missense c.1801T > C (p.

Peripartum disease activity in moderately and severely disabled women with multiple sclerosis.

Background: The effects of pregnancy on multiple sclerosis (MS) inflammatory activity are not well described in women with moderate to severe disabilities.

Objective: To quantify the peripartum annualized relapse rate (ARR) in women with MS with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ≥ 3.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 85 pregnancies in 74 subjects with preconception EDSS ≥ 3.

Cortical morphology predicts placebo response in multiple sclerosis.

Despite significant insights into the neural mechanisms of acute placebo responses, less is known about longer-term placebo responses, such as those seen in clinical trials, or their interactions with brain disease. We examined brain correlates of placebo responses in a randomized trial of a then controversial and now disproved endovascular treatment for multiple sclerosis. Patients received either balloon or sham extracranial venoplasty and were followed for 48 weeks.

Risk factors for peripartum depression in women with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Peripartum depression (PPD) is underexplored in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To evaluate prevalence of and risk factors for PPD in women with MS.

Methods: Retrospective single-center analysis of women with MS with a live birth.