The Impact of Methylprednisolone Pulses during Relapses of Multiple Sclerosis on the Kinetics of Anti-Interferon-Beta Antibodies.

Background/aims: We assessed the, hitherto unknown, impact of intravenous methylprednisolone (ivMP) pulses during relapses of multiple sclerosis (MS) on the kinetics of anti-interferon-beta neutralizing antibodies (Nabs) and binding antibodies (Babs).

Methods: Babs (ELISA) and Nabs (antiviral cytopathic effect assay) titers were evaluated before, immediately after and at 1 month following ivMP in 60 MS patients.

Results: ivMP reduces Nabs and Babs titers for at least 1 month.

Hereditary leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids: a spectrum of phenotypes from CNS vasculitis to parkinsonism in an adult onset leukodystrophy series.

Background: Hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with neuroaxonal spheroids (HDLS) is a hereditary, adult onset leukodystrophy which is characterised by the presence of axonal loss, axonal spheroids and variably present pigmented macrophages on pathological examination. It most frequently presents in adulthood with dementia and personality change. HDLS has recently been found to be caused by mutations in the colony stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R) gene.

20th meeting of the European neurological society, 19-23 june 2010, berlin, Germany.

More than 3000 neurologists attended the 20th Meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS) and participated in the exciting and highly scientific programme. Eighty per cent of the submitted abstracts, which covered all aspects of neurology, were accepted. One major symposium, 16 oral presentations and 112 posters on multiple sclerosis (MS) were included in the programme.

Predictable ventricular shift after focal cerebral ischaemia in rats: practical considerations for intraventricular therapeutic interventions.

Intracerebroventricular (ICV) route of administration is a useful experimental method to study the effects of chemicals or cellular grafts in the ventricular compartment of the brain after focal ischaemia. However, the induced oedema may cause structural dislocating phenomena and render a stereotaxic ICV invasion difficult and practically unavailable especially during the acute post-ischaemia phase. The aim of this study was to measure these structural ventricular dislocations and set new stereotaxic coordinates for successful and cost-effective ICV invasion 6-18 h after focal cerebral ischaemia.

19th meeting of the European Neurological Society 20 to 24 June 2009.

Around 3000 delegates took part in the 19th Meeting of the European Neuroligical Society (ENS) and all sessions were well attended. All aspects of Neurology were covered in the comprehensive programme which included one presidential symposium on stroke, three main symposia on epilepsy, muscle disorders and multiple sclerosis (MS), 140 oral presentations, 654 posters, 23 workshops and 23 teaching courses. Multiple Sclerosis was well represented with one symposium, 20 oral presentations, 103 posters, two teaching courses and two workshops.

18th meeting of the European Neurological Society, Nice, France, 7 to 11 June 2008.

Over 3200 neurologists attended the 18th Meeting of the European Neurological Society to participate in the exciting and highly scientific programe. There was a 19% rejection of the submitted abstracts which covered all the aspects of neurology. One major symposium, 27 oral presentations and 107 posters on multiple sclerosis (MS) were presented.

Effectiveness of a new modified intraluminal suture for temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats of various weight.

Intraluminal temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) is a common model of ischemic stroke in the rat with significant, suture and weight-dependent variability along with increased risk of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). Our purpose was to increase reproducibility and decrease SAH using a modification of the Koizumi suture. We compared a Koizumi 5/0 Ethilon poly-l-lysine-coated suture (s-2, group B) to an identical, uncoated one (s-1, group A) and the Belayev's 3/0 suture (s-3, group C), in the 2-h MCAO model in Wistar rats of varying weight (310-527 g).

Evaluation of the stability of blood flow over time in the dominant hemisphere: a functional transcranial Doppler study.

Functional transcranial Doppler (fTCD) has been used for the identification of cerebral hemispheric dominance in various cognitive tasks. In our study, we have used fTCD with the aim to compare blood flow patterns in the hemispheres not only during the task activation periods but also in the post-stimulus phase. Normal volunteers, 25 right and 25 left-handed, were included.

Is there or is there not a place for anti-interferon antibodies in the decision making of multiple sclerosis treatment optimisation?

Several factors contribute to the fact that not all multiple sclerosis (MS) patients respond equally well to long-term interferon beta (IFNbeta) treatment, even if the initial response is adequate. Among these factors, anti-interferon neutralising antibodies (NAbs) may be included. There is increasing evidence that these antibodies have a clinical impact in MS treated patients, which is evident some months following the initiation of treatment with IFN?.

Transplanted neural precursor cells reduce brain inflammation to attenuate chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Stem cell transplantation was introduced as a mean of cell replacement therapy, but the mechanism by which it confers clinical improvement in experimental models of neurological diseases is not clear. Here, we transplanted neural precursor cells (NPCs) into the ventricles of mice at day 6 after induction of chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of multiple sclerosis (MS). Transplanted cells migrated into white matter tracts and attenuated the clinical course of disease.

Neuroinflammation in multiple sclerosis: evidence for autoimmune dysregulation, not simple autoimmune reaction.

Both inflammatory and neurodegenerative components may contribute to the clinical profile of multiple sclerosis (MS) leading to irreversible deficits when they exceed the threshold of compensation. The mechanisms leading to tissue injury in MS are complex. Inflammation appears to be caused by overactive pro-inflammatory T-helper 1 cells, initiating an inflammatory cascade with several cellular and molecular immune components participating in the pathogenetic mechanism.

[Findings from molecular imaging with SPET camera and 123I-ioflupane in the differential diagnosis of Parkinsonism and essential tremor].

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the use of the radiopharmaceutical 123I-ioflupane in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Parkinsonism (P) and essential tremor (ET). Forty-three consecutive patients, aged 35-72 years, presenting symptoms and signs compatible with P, plus 11 normal volunteers, aged 40-60 years, were enrolled for the study. The radiopharmaceutical was injected iv in a dose of 185 MBq and tomographic acquisition in a single-headed Pegasys gamma-camera (ADAC, USA), 3-4 hours post injection was performed in order to evaluate the activity of the presynaptic nigro-striatal dopaminergic transporter.

Meningioma growth and interferon beta-1b treated multiple sclerosis: coincidence or relationship?

Although the coincidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) and central nervous system (CNS) tumors has been reported in over 30 cases in English literature, meningioma growth was associated with interferon-beta (INF-b) treated MS only in two of them. We report the case of a 19-year-old woman with clinically possible, laboratory supported MS, and a concomitant right intraventricular tumor with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics consistent with meningioma (similar signal with grey matter on T1 and T2-weighted images and homogenous, intense enhancement). Two years after initiation of INF-b treatment, follow-up brain MRI revealed enlargement of the intraventricular mass and relative increase in the number of white matter lesions without significant clinical deterioration.

Axonal damage in multiple sclerosis: a complex issue in a complex disease.

Multiple sclerosis is no longer considered to simply be an autoimmune demyelinating disease. Axonal destruction is another central pathological feature and a contributor to the accumulating disability of disease progression. The mechanism underlying axonal pathology has not been fully clarified but does not appear to be a simple one.

CT and MR imaging findings in cerebral toxocaral disease.

We report serial MR findings in a 54-year-old woman with eosinophilic meningoencephalitis due to Toxocara canis infection, a parasitic disease contracted through exposure with soil contaminated by the eggs of the roundworm. MR imaging revealed several enhancing subcortical and white matter lesions in both lobes. Antihelminthic chemotherapy yielded marked improvement of the neurologic deficits and cerebral lesions.

Retrospective study of febrile seizures: subsequent electroencephalogram findings, unprovoked seizures and epilepsy in adolescents.

A retrospective questionnaire to determine the prevalence of febrile seizures was given to adolescents (16- and 17-year-olds) in the final 2 years of secondary school at the five schools in Alexandroupolis, Greece. Parents were interviewed, and clinical and electroencephalographic examinations were performed in all adolescents with a history of febrile seizures. Of 1708 adolescents, 56 (3.

Epidemiological data of multiple sclerosis in the province of Evros, Greece.

The frequency of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Greece is still debated. Our previous epidemiological field survey with a cross-check study of MS on March 31, 1984, in the province of Evros in north-eastern Greece showed a prevalence rate of 10.1/100,000.