Articles related to MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS)

A clear synopsis of the McDonald criteria, including application of the criteria with different manifestations of MS. This overview also provides an FAQ and the features the criteria in tabular and chart formats.

The presence of a prodrome is supported by the increased health care use prior to disease onset and by various biomarkers indicating an inflammatory and axonal degenerative process before any demyelinating event. Further understanding of this prodrome could help identify people at risk of developing MS, and possibly help with early treatment initiation and disability prevention.

Forty patients with MS and neuropathic pain were randomized to TENS or interferential current (IFC) five days a week for four weeks. Average self-rated pain and neuropathic pain decreased significantly following both interventions. MusiQol scores improved significantly following TENS or IFC. However, the TENS arm showed significant improvements in more domains than IFC on the MusiQol scale.

In a synopsis from ACTRIMS San Diego forum at the end of February, most patients who achieved a “no evidence of disease activity” in the first 6 months of therapy with Briumvi continued to show no active disease at the 2-year mark. At the same time, high-dose vitamin D appears to have no effect in controlling MS. And a suspension of gold nanoparticles designed to increase intracellular energy production, and previously demonstrating positive effects on cognition, vision, and motor function in MS, is the focus of a new study set to begin enrolling patients with progressive forms of MS.

Researchers believe that the activity of its flagella, the hair-like projections that help bacteria move around, adhere to, and invade target cells, promotes inflammation in this ‘bacteria x’ species (the name is protected by patent). Previously, the researchers examined fecal samples from patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), discovering a distinct microbiome profile associated with each MS type. The researchers discovered 12 bacterial species that were particularly enriched in the SPMS samples using bacterial DNA extracted from fecal samples from 62 RRMS and 15 SPMS patients. The highest correlation was found between bacteria X levels and patients’ disability levels, as measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).

The University of Virginia researchers used healthy mice and mice genetically engineered to lack aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) in CD4-positive T-cells, an immune cell type implicated in MS, in the first set of experiments. These animals were subjected to the standard protocol for inducing an MS-like disease called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The results showed that mice lacking AHR had the same time to disease onset and peak clinical severity as healthy mice, but recovered faster in the chronic phase. The difference in recovery was only observed when the mutant mice were housed separately from their healthy counterparts, according to the researchers. The team hypothesized that this was due to microbiome differences that were only apparent when the mice lived separately and did not influence each other’s microbiomes.