Cerebral cortical encephalitis in adults with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease: A national case series.

Background And Purpose: Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) is a relatively recently described disease, most commonly presenting with optic neuritis and longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis. Cerebral cortical encephalitis is a rare manifestation of MOGAD.

Methods: We identified patients presenting with cerebral cortical encephalitis with positive MOG antibodies in serum across a large specialized service.

Physical and psychological aspects of multiple sclerosis: Revisiting the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29).

Background: The MSIS-29 measures the physical and psychological impact of MS.

Objective: The associations between MSIS-29 domains and demographic/clinical aspects were examined and trajectories analysed over time.

Methods: Data were collected in the Trajectories of Outcome in Neurological Conditions study for a diverse population of people with MS, with follow-up for up to 5 years.

Pre-thymectomy disease severity predicts outcome in acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive generalised myasthenia gravis.

Introduction: There are only a few studies exploring post-thymectomy outcome in patients with acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChR-Ab)-positive generalised myasthenia gravis (MG).

Objective: To assess the predictors of outcome in patients with AChR-Ab-positive generalised MG who underwent thymectomy.

Methods: A retrospective study of 53 patients from a single neuroscience centre in the UK.

Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr Virus, Herpes Simplex Virus, and Varicella Zoster Virus Infection Dynamics in People with Multiple Sclerosis from Northern Italy.

Previous exposure to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is strongly associated with the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). By contrast, past cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection may have no association, or be negatively associated with MS. This study aimed to investigate the associations of herpesvirus infections with MS in an Italian population.

Prevalence, treatment and correlates of depression in multiple sclerosis.

Background: The prevalence of depression in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is often assessed by administering patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) examining depressive symptomatology to population cohorts; a recent review summarised 12 such studies, eight of which used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression (HADS-D). In clinical practice, depression is diagnosed by an individual structured clinical interview; diagnosis often leads to treatment options including antidepressant medication. It follows that an MS population will include those whose current depressive symptoms meet threshold for depression diagnosis, plus those who previously met diagnostic criteria for depression and have been treated such that depressive symptoms have improved below that threshold.

Ocrelizumab B cell depletion has no effect on HERV RNA expression in PBMC in MS patients.

Background: Epstein barr virus (EBV) infection of B cells is now understood to be one of the triggering events for the development of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a progressive immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system. EBV infection is also linked to expression of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) of the HERV-W group, a further risk factor for the development of MS. Ocrelizumab is a high-potency disease-modifying treatment (DMT) for MS, which depletes B cells by targeting CD20.

Correlates and trajectories of relapses in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Background And Aims: In people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (pwRRMS), data from studies on non-pharmacological factors which may influence relapse risk, other than age, are inconsistent. There is a reduced risk of relapses with increasing age, but little is known about other trajectories in real-world MS care.

Methods: We studied longitudinal questionnaire data from 3885 pwRRMS, covering smoking, comorbidities, disease-modifying therapy (DMT), and patient-reported outcome measures, as well as relapses during the past year.

Multiple Sclerosis vision questionnaire (MSVQ-7): Reliability, validity, precision and discrimination.

Background: Visual dysfunction is common in people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS), associated with a variety of visual symptoms. Capturing the patient experience of these complex patterns of visual pathology is challenging. A valid and reliable patient reported measure, capable of detecting clinically significant change, would have considerable research and clinical benefits.

Natalizumab Treatment for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Stabilises Normal-Appearing White Matter Microstructure: A One-Year Prospective Ultra-High-Field Quantitative Imaging Study.

(1) Background: Natalizumab dramatically reduces relapses and MRI inflammatory activity (new lesions and enhancing lesions) in multiple sclerosis (MS). Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI can explore brain tissue in vivo with high resolution and sensitivity. We investigated if natalizumab can prevent microstructural tissue damage progression measured with MRI at ultra-high field (7 Tesla) over the first year of treatment.

Natalizumab Treatment of Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Has No Long-Term Effects on the Proportion of Circulating Regulatory T Cells.

Introduction: Natalizumab (NTZ), a monoclonal antibody against the integrin α4β1 (VLA-4) found on activated T cells and B cells, blocks the interaction of this integrin with adhesion molecules of central nervous system (CNS) endothelial cells and lymphocyte migration through the blood-brain barrier, effectively preventing new lesion formation and relapses in multiple sclerosis (MS). Whether NTZ treatment has additional effects on the peripheral immune system cells, and how its actions compare with other MS disease-modifying treatments, have not been extensively investigated. In particular, its effect on the proportions of circulating regulatory T cells (Treg) is unclear.

An update on the use of sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor modulators for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis.

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disorder of the CNS manifested by recurrent attacks of neurological symptoms (related to focal inflammation) and gradual disability accrual (related to progressive neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation). Sphingosine-1-phosphate-receptor (S1PR) modulators are a class of oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for relapsing MS. The first S1PR modulator developed and approved for MS was fingolimod, followed by siponimod, ozanimod, and ponesimod.

Predictors of long-term disability in multiple sclerosis patients using routine magnetic resonance imaging data: A 15-year retrospective study.

Introduction: Early identification of patients at high risk of progression could help with a personalised treatment strategy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures have been proposed to predict long-term disability in multiple sclerosis (MS), but a reliable predictor that can be easily implemented clinically is still needed.

Aim: Assess MRI measures during the first 5 years of the MS disease course for the ability to predict progression at 10+ years.

CSF lymphocytic pleocytosis does not predict a less favourable long-term prognosis in MS.

Objective: The role of CSF lymphocytic pleocytosis in predicting the clinical outcome of multiple sclerosis is unclear. We explored the impact of CSF pleocytosis at diagnosis on long-term disease progression in a large UK cohort.

Methods: We extracted demographic, clinical and CSF data of people with MS attending the MS clinics between 1996 and 2014 at two MS centres from the English Midlands.

The Potential for EBV Vaccines to Prevent Multiple Sclerosis.

There is increasing evidence suggesting that Epstein-Barr virus infection is a causative factor of multiple sclerosis (MS). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human herpesvirus, Human Gammaherpesvirus 4. EBV infection shows two peaks: firstly, during early childhood and, secondly during the teenage years.

Effects of substance P on human cerebral microvascular endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3 are mediated exclusively through a truncated NK-1 receptor and depend on cell confluence.

The neuropeptide substance P (SP) mediates pain transmission, immune modulation, vasodilation and neurogenic inflammation. Its role in the peripheral nervous system has been well characterised. However, its actions on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) are less clear and warrant further study.

Age at onset predicts outcome in aquaporin-4-IgG positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder from a United Kingdom population.

Background: There are few studies exploring the prognostic factors in patients with aquaporin-4 (AQP4)-IgG positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).

Objective: To assess the predictors of outcome in patients with AQP4-antibody positive NMOSD from a United Kingdom (UK) population.

Methods: A retrospective study of 52 patients from 2 neuroscience centres in the UK Midlands.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome Variant Occurring after SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination.

Although SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are very safe, we report 4 cases of the bifacial weakness with paresthesias variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) occurring within 3 weeks of vaccination with the Oxford-AstraZeneca SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. This rare neurological syndrome has previously been reported in association with SARS-CoV-2 infection itself. Our cases were given either intravenous immunoglobulin, oral steroids, or no treatment.

Experimental infection with the hookworm, Necator americanus, is associated with stable gut microbial diversity in human volunteers with relapsing multiple sclerosis.

Background: Helminth-associated changes in gut microbiota composition have been hypothesised to contribute to the immune-suppressive properties of parasitic worms. Multiple sclerosis is an immune-mediated autoimmune disease of the central nervous system whose pathophysiology has been linked to imbalances in gut microbial communities.

Results: In the present study, we investigated, for the first time, qualitative and quantitative changes in the faecal bacterial composition of human volunteers with remitting multiple sclerosis (RMS) prior to and following experimental infection with the human hookworm, Necator americanus (N+), and following anthelmintic treatment, and compared the findings with data obtained from a cohort of RMS patients subjected to placebo treatment (PBO).