Several serum lipid metabolites are associated with relapse risk in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis.

Background: The circulating metabolome is altered in multiple sclerosis (MS), but its prognostic capabilities have not been extensively explored. Lipid metabolites might be of particular interest due to their multiple roles in the brain, as they can serve as structural components, energy sources, and bioactive molecules. Gaining a deeper understanding of the disease may be possible by examining the lipid metabolism in the periphery, which serves as the primary source of lipids for the brain.

MRI lesions can often precede trigeminal neuralgia symptoms by years in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Understanding when multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions become clinically symptomatic may provide insight into disease pathophysiology. Our objective was to temporally associate lesion formation and trigeminal neuralgia (TN) symptom onset in MS.

Methods: This is a retrospective case series of patients with MS, analysing time difference between TN symptom onset and oldest MRI showing a correlative lesion.

Oral Levodopa Formulation Does Not Affect Progression of Parkinson Disease.

Objective: Motor fluctuations develop in most patients treated with carbidopa/levodopa for Parkinson disease. The continuous dopamine stimulation hypothesis suggests that longer-acting forms of levodopa might improve outcomes, but this has been inadequately tested in humans. We undertook to determine if there is any difference in symptom progression rate among patients taking immediate-release carbidopa/levodopa (IR), controlled-release carbidopa/levodopa (CR), or carbidopa/levodopa/entacapone (CLE) using standard outcome measures in a naturalistic study.

Correction to: Migraine Aura Without Headache.

The original version of this article contains an error in the title. The title should be: Migraine Aura Without Headache. The title is corrected in this correction article.

Migraine Aura Without Headache [corrected].

Purpose Of Review: This review evaluates and explains our current understanding of a rare subtype of migraine, typical aura without headache, also known as migraine aura without headache or acephalgic migraine.

Recent Findings: Typical aura without headache is a known entity within the spectrum of migraine. Its pathophysiology is suggested to be similar to classic migraines, with cortical spreading depression leading to aura formation but without an associated headache.

Neonatal Murine Cochlear Explant Technique as an In Vitro Screening Tool in Hearing Research.

While there have been remarkable advances in hearing research over the past few decades, there is still no cure for Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL), a condition that typically involves damage to or loss of the delicate mechanosensory structures of the inner ear. Sophisticated in vitro and ex vivo assays have emerged in recent years, enabling the screening of an increasing number of potentially therapeutic compounds while minimizing resources and accelerating efforts to develop cures for SNHL. Though homogenous cultures of certain cell types continue to play an important role in current research, many scientists now rely on more complex organotypic cultures of murine inner ears, also known as cochlear explants.

A Unified Methodological Framework for Vestibular Schwannoma Research.

Vestibular schwannomas are the most common neoplasms of the cerebellopontine angle, making up 6-8% percent of all intracranial growths. Though these tumors cause sensorineural hearing loss in up to 95% of affected individuals, the molecular mechanisms underlying this hearing loss remain elusive. This article outlines the steps established in our laboratory to facilitate the collection and processing of various primary human tissue samples for downstream research applications integral to the study of vestibular schwannomas.

Extracellular vesicles derived from human vestibular schwannomas associated with poor hearing damage cochlear cells.

Background: Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is a tumor of the vestibular nerve that transmits balance information from the inner ear to the brain. Sensorineural hearing loss occurs in 95% of patients with these tumors, but the cause of this loss is not well understood. We posit a role of VS-secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs) as a major contributing factor in cochlear nerve damage.

Secreted Factors from Human Vestibular Schwannomas Can Cause Cochlear Damage.

Vestibular schwannomas (VSs) are the most common tumours of the cerebellopontine angle. Ninety-five percent of people with VS present with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL); the mechanism of this SNHL is currently unknown. To establish the first model to study the role of VS-secreted factors in causing SNHL, murine cochlear explant cultures were treated with human tumour secretions from thirteen different unilateral, sporadic VSs of subjects demonstrating varied degrees of ipsilateral SNHL.

Preclinical validation of anti-nuclear factor-kappa B therapy to inhibit human vestibular schwannoma growth.

Vestibular schwannomas (VSs), the most common tumors of the cerebellopontine angle, arise from Schwann cells lining the vestibular nerve. Pharmacotherapies against VS are almost non-existent. Although the therapeutic inhibition of inflammatory modulators has been established for other neoplasms, it has not been explored in VS.

Interplay between VEGF-A and cMET signaling in human vestibular schwannomas and schwann cells.

Vestibular schwannoma (VS), the fourth most common intracranial tumor, arises from the Schwann cells of the vestibular nerve. Although several pathways have been independently implicated in VS pathobiology, interactions among these pathways have not been explored in depth. We have investigated the potential cross-talk between hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) in human VS, an interaction that has been described in other physiological and pathological cell types.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications are cytostatic against human vestibular schwannomas.

Vestibular schwannomas (VSs) are the most common tumors of the cerebellopontine angle. Significant clinical need exists for pharmacotherapies against VSs. Motivated by previous findings that immunohistochemical expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) correlates with VS growth rate, we investigated the role of COX-2 in VSs and tested COX-2 inhibiting salicylates against VSs.

Primary culture of human Schwann and schwannoma cells: improved and simplified protocol.

Primary culture of human Schwann cells (SCs) and vestibular schwannoma (VS) cells are invaluable tools to investigate SC physiology and VS pathobiology, and to devise effective pharmacotherapies against VS, which are sorely needed. However, existing culture protocols, in aiming to create robust, pure cultures, employ methods that can lead to loss of biological characteristics of the original cells, potentially resulting in misleading biological findings. We have developed a minimally manipulative method to culture primary human SC and VS cells, without the use of selective mitogens, toxins, or time-consuming and potentially transformative laboratory techniques.

Aspirin intake correlates with halted growth of sporadic vestibular schwannoma in vivo.

Objective: Given the presence of a pathological immune response in sporadic vestibular schwannoma (sVS), this study aims to explore the roles of aspirin in minimizing sVS growth in vivo.

Study Design: Retrospective case review.

Setting: Tertiary care hospital.

Mining immune epitopes in the inner ear.

Etiologies for many inner ear disorders, including autoimmune inner ear disease, sudden sensorineural hearing loss, and Meniere's disease, remain unknown. Indirect evidence suggests an immune-mediated process involving an allergic or autoimmune mechanism. We examined whether known immunogenic proteins share sequence similarity with inner ear proteins, which may lead to cross-reactivity and detrimental immune activation.

Sporadic vestibular schwannomas associated with good hearing secrete higher levels of fibroblast growth factor 2 than those associated with poor hearing irrespective of tumor size.

Hypothesis: We hypothesize that the severity of hearing loss (HL) associated with sporadic vestibular schwannomas (VS) is correlated with tumor secretion of proteins with ototoxic or otoprotective potential.

Background: Because the recognition that HL associated with VS is not solely due to compression of the auditory nerve, elucidating the mechanism by which VS cause HL has been an important task. We previously showed that VS stratified by hearing have differential gene expression.