Serum neurofilament light chain and glial fibrillary acidic protein for predicting response to apheresis in steroid-refractory multiple sclerosis relapses.

Background And Purpose: The predictive value of serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) and serum glial fibrillary acidic protein (sGFAP) for apheresis outcome in steroid-refractory multiple sclerosis (MS) relapse has not yet been evaluated.

Methods: We used pre- and postapheresis serum samples from 38 participants of the IAPEMS trial (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02671682), which investigated the use of immunoadsorption versus plasma exchange for the treatment of steroid-refractory MS attacks.

The TRACK-MS Test Battery: A Very Brief Tool to Track Multiple Sclerosis-Related Cognitive Impairment.

Tracking cognition in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) is important for detection of disease progression but it is often not performed in routine settings due to time constraints. This exploratory cohort study aims to develop a very brief repeatable tracking tool with comparable test quality criteria to the current gold standard, the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS). The study included 88 participants (22 healthy controls, 66 MS patients) who were examined at baseline and at one-year follow-up.

Drug-induced liver injury associated with the biosimilar glatiramer acetate (Clift®).

A 23-year old female was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with two symptomatic attacks. Immunomodulatory treatment with Clift® (Glatiramer Acetate biosimilar) was initiated. Shortly after administration, an asymptomatic increase in liver enzymes was noticed, and therapy was paused.

Safety and efficacy of immunoadsorption versus plasma exchange in steroid-refractory relapse of multiple sclerosis and clinically isolated syndrome: A randomised, parallel-group, controlled trial.

Background: Plasma exchange (PE) constitutes the standard therapy for steroid-refractory relapse in multiple sclerosis and clinically isolated syndrome. Immunoadsorption (IA) is an alternative method of apheresis which selectively removes immunoglobulines (Ig) while preserving other plasma proteins. Although IA is regarded as a well-tolerated, low-risk procedure, high-level evidence for its efficacy is lacking.

[The balloon dilatation of esophageal stenoses].

A number of 55 balloon dilatations were performed on 23 patients with oesophageal stenoses of various aetiologies. Among these, 22 displayed benign stenoses and only 1 case had a malignant aetiology. The number of dilatations per patient varied from 1 to 3.

Modulation of natural killer cell activity by serum from cancer patients: preliminary results of a study of patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma or other types of cancer.

As previously reported for natural killer (NK) cells of normal individuals, prior incubation of peripheral blood lymphocytes from cancer patients with human normal serum or monomeric immunoglobulin G reduced their subsequent capacity to kill K562 target cells in a 4-h 51Cr release assay. The NK activity of such treated effector cells was significantly inhibited only by 58% of sera from patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma (21 of 36 cases) and by 67% of sera from patients with other lymphoid or nonlymphoid solid tumors (22 of 33 cases). The cytotoxic activity of cells previously incubated with eight noninhibitory sera was even augmented relative to medium-treated peripheral blood lymphocytes (control).