Peripartum Mental Illness in Mothers With Multiple Sclerosis and Other Chronic Diseases in Ontario, Canada.

Background And Objectives: Peripartum mood and anxiety disorders constitute the most frequent form of maternal morbidity in the general population, but little is known about peripartum mental illness in mothers with multiple sclerosis (MS). We compared the incidence and prevalence of peripartum mental illness among mothers with MS, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and diabetes and women without these conditions.

Methods: Using linked population-based administrative health data from ON, Canada, we conducted a cohort study of mothers with MS, epilepsy, IBD, and diabetes and without these diseases (comparators) who had a live birth with index dates, defined as 1 year before conception, between 2002 and 2017.

A nested case-control study evaluating the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and immune-mediated inflammatory disease in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Objective: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have inconsistently been implicated as risk factors for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID). We evaluated whether the association of ACE with disease differs between IMID and other chronic diseases.

Design: Nested retrospective case-control study.

Post-acute sequela of COVID-19 infection in individuals with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Many common symptoms in post-acute sequelae following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (PASC) overlap with those of multiple sclerosis (MS). We examined symptoms and performance of the PASC score, developed in the general population, in MS based on infection history.

Methods: We surveyed North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) registry participants regarding infections and categorized participants based on infection history.

The fungal gut microbiota in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis.

Evidence suggests that the gut microbiome may play a role in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the majority of the studies have focused on gut bacterial communities; none have examined the fungal microbiota (mycobiota) in persons with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS). We examined the gut mycobiota in persons with and without POMS through a cross-sectional examination of the gut mycobiota from 46 participants' stool samples (three groups: 18 POMS, 13 acquired monophasic demyelinating syndromes [monoADS], and 15 unaffected controls).

Effects of COVID-19 Infection on Symptom Severity and Disability in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Objectives: Infections, including infection with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), could alter the course of multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies assessing the effects of COVID-19 on MS outcomes were small and had discordant findings. The study objective was to evaluate the association of COVID-19 infection with changes in the trajectory of MS symptoms and disability.