Growth arrest specific gene 6 protein concentration in cerebrospinal fluid correlates with relapse severity in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Growth arrest specific gene 6 (Gas6) protein enhances survival of oligodendrocytes and neurons, and it is involved in autoimmunity. Therefore, we aimed to verify whether cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) Gas6 concentration may represent a biomarker of disease activity in multiple sclerosis.

Methods: Sixty-five patients who underwent a spinal tap during relapse of relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis (RR-MS)(McDonald-criteria) were studied.

Association between DPP6 polymorphism and the risk of progressive multiple sclerosis in Northern and Southern Europeans.

Background: In this study, we investigated the role of the dipeptidyl-peptidase-6 (DPP6) gene in the etiopathogenesis of progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (PrMS). This gene emerged as a candidate gene in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) performed in an Italian sample of PrMS and controls in which two SNPs located in the gene (rs6956703 and rs11767658) showed evidence of association (nominal p-value<10(-4)) (Martinelli-Boneschi et al.) [18].

Predictors of attack severity and duration in multiple sclerosis: a prospective study.

Objective: To evaluate predictors of severity and duration of early Multiple Sclerosis (MS) attacks.

Methods: We analyzed 248 attacks in 95 patients in a prospective study. Severity: the difference between the EDSS score at the day of maximum worsening and the EDSS score before the onset of the attack.

The expression pattern of inflammatory mediators in cerebrospinal fluid differentiates Guillain-Barré syndrome from chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Introduction: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) share histopathological features but display different disease courses; we measured the concentration of 50 inflammatory mediators in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with either of these diseases.

Patients And Methods: CSF samples were collected during a diagnostic lumbar puncture and stored at -30 degrees C. We analyzed the CSF of nine subjects with GBS; eight with CIDP; eight with diabetic polyneuropathy (DP) and seven with headache (controls).

Progranulin gene variability increases the risk for primary progressive multiple sclerosis in males.

Progranulin (GRN) gene variability has been analyzed in a sample of 354 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with 343 controls. No significant differences were observed, but by stratifying according to MS subtypes, a significant increased frequency of the rs2879096 TT genotype was found in primary progressive MS (PPMS) patients versus controls (16.0 vs 3.