We present a case of a 67-year-old female patient, who presented with acute cortical blindness five days after a successful resuscitation from cardiac arrest. The magnetic resonance tomography revealed a mild FLAIR signal increase of the bilateral occipital cortex. A lumbar puncture revealed considerably elevated tau protein levels, in the presence of normal phospho-tau, as a marker of brain injury, whilst neuron-specific enolase levels were normal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Data on the humoral vaccine response in patients on anti-interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor therapy remain scarce.
Objective: The main objective of our study was to investigate the humoral response after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD)/myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) patients treated with anti-IL-6 receptor therapy. Secondarily, we analyzed relapse activity timely associated with vaccination.
Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has tremendous implications for the management of patients with autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) under immune therapies targeting CD20 B cells (aCD20).
Objectives: Here, we investigated humoral and cellular immune responses, including anti-spike titers, neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 wild-type (WT), delta, and omicron variant and T cell responses of aCD20-treated relapsing-remitting MS patients following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination compared with healthy controls.
Methods: Blood samples were collected within 4-8 weeks following the second vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.
Objective: The pandemic induced by SARS-CoV-2 has huge implications for patients with immunosuppression that is caused by disorders or specific treatments. Especially approaches targeting B cells anti-CD20 therapy are associated with impaired humoral immune response but sustained cellular immunity. Ofatumumab is a human anti-CD20 directed antibody applied in low dosages subcutaneously, recently licensed for Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Progressive multiple sclerosis is characterized by chronic inflammation with microglial activation, oxidative stress, accumulation of iron and continuous neurodegeneration with inadequate effectiveness of medications used so far. We now investigated effects of iron on microglia and used the previously identified neuroprotective antipsychotic clozapine and in chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).
Methods: Microglia were treated with iron and clozapine followed by analysis of cell death and response to oxidative stress, cytokine release and neuronal phagocytosis.
Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is an autoimmune-inflammatory CNS disease affecting spinal cord and optic nerves, mediated by autoantibodies against aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein (MOG). Effects of those immunoglobulins (Ig) on retina and optic nerve are incompletely understood. We investigated AQP4-IgG and MOG-IgG sera on retina and optic nerve ex vivo and in 2D2 mice, which harbor a transgenic MOG-specific T-cell receptor.
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