Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytology in Lyme Neuroborreliosis Revisited-Role of Neutrophilic Granulocytes: A Retrospective Single-Center Study.

: diagnosis of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) relies on medical history, clinical findings, and detection of pathogen-specific antibodies in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The chemoattractant CXCL13 serves as an additional marker for LNB acuity. During the diagnostic workup, cytomorphological examination of immune cells in CSF provides early insights.

Chronic in vivo imaging defines age-dependent alterations of neurogenesis in the mouse hippocampus.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) generate new neurons throughout life in the mammalian hippocampus. Advancing age leads to a decline in neurogenesis, which is associated with impaired cognition. The cellular mechanisms causing reduced neurogenesis with advancing age remain largely unknown.

Immunomodulatory Aspects of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in Neurological Disorders-A Pilot Study.

Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is used for drug-resistant neuroimmunological disorders, but its mechanism of action remains poorly understood. We therefore prospectively explored changes in soluble, humoral, and cellular immune components associated with TPE. We included ten patients with neurological autoimmune disorders that underwent TPE and assessed a panel of clinically relevant pathogen-specific antibodies, total serum immunoglobulin (Ig) levels, interleukin-6 (IL-6, pg/mL), C-reactive protein (CRP, mg/dL), procalcitonin (PCT, µg/L) and major lymphocyte subpopulations (cells/µL).

Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus RNA Found in Frozen Goat's Milk in a Family Outbreak.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is one of the commonest arthropod-borne viral diseases in Middle-East Europe and North Asia. The main reservoir of the virus is comprised of small rodents and domestic mammals with the common tick (Ixodes) being the usual vector. The clinical spectrum of TBE ranges from mild meningitis to severe meningoencephalomyelitis.

The CXCL13/CXCR5 Immune Axis in Health and Disease-Implications for Intrathecal B Cell Activities in Neuroinflammation.

The chemokine C-X-C- ligand 13 (CXCL13) is a major B cell chemoattractant to B cell follicles in secondary lymphoid organs (SLO) that proposedly recruits B cells to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during neuroinflammation. CXCR5, the cognate receptor of CXCL13, is expressed on B cells and certain T cell subsets, in particular T follicular helper cells (Tfh cells), enabling them to follow CXCL13 gradients towards B cell follicles for spatial proximity, a prerequisite for productive T cell-B cell interaction. Tfh cells are essential contributors to B cell proliferation, differentiation, and high-affinity antibody synthesis and are required for germinal center formation and maintenance.