Multiple sclerosis disease progression and paradichlorobenzene: a tale of mothballs and toilet cleaner.

Importance: Environmental factors are thought to be critical in the initiation and perpetuation of multiple sclerosis disease activity.

Observations: We describe the case of a woman in her late 30s with a diagnosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, who continued to accumulate neurological disability despite long-term natalizumab treatment. The patient continued to have visual symptoms, left leg weakness, and gait instability.

Induction of high-affinity IgE receptor on lung dendritic cells during viral infection leads to mucous cell metaplasia.

Respiratory viral infections are associated with an increased risk of asthma, but how acute Th1 antiviral immune responses lead to chronic inflammatory Th2 disease remains undefined. We define a novel pathway that links transient viral infection to chronic lung disease with dendritic cell (DC) expression of the high-affinity IgE receptor (FcepsilonRIalpha). In a mouse model of virus-induced chronic lung disease, in which Sendai virus triggered a switch to persistent mucous cell metaplasia and airway hyperreactivity after clearance of replicating virus, we found that FceRIa(-/-) mice no longer developed mucous cell metaplasia.