Autoimmune diseases Monday, April 02, 2012, 17:30 – 19:00 Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in aggressive forms of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and NMO spectrum disorders Raffaella Greco, Lucia Moiola, Paolo Rossi, Marta Radaelli, Daniela Ungaro, Massimo Bernardi, Consuelo Corti, Jacopo Peccatori, Attilio Bondanza, Maria Teresa Lupo Stanghellini, Giancarlo Comi, Fabio Ciceri (Milan, IT) ——————————————————————————– Background.
Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered a type of cell that may contribute to autoimmune disease. The findings also suggest why diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis strike women more frequently than men
Damage to the central nervous system can often result from the progression of an autoimmune disease. Demyelination often occurs as a result, where the myelin sheath on a neuron’s axons is destroyed due to excessive autoimmune responses (1).This destruction ultimately leads to lesions in the brain or spinal cord (2,3).The uncontrolled autoimmune responses can be primary, where the infiltrates begin the destruction of the myelin sheath, or secondary, where infiltrates respond to previous CNS damage and subsequently further the damage (4) . Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most noted example of a CNS demyelinating autoimmune disease (3,4), with 350,000-500,000 individuals currently diagnosed(3)
Imaging Immune-Mediated Depression and Cognitive Impairment in Autoimmune Neurologic Diseases: MRS of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis and Transverse Myselitis Adam I. Kaplin, M.D., Ph.D.
Interleukin-17 (IL-17) secreted by T helper 17 (Th17) cells is essential in the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). However, it remains unclear how IL-17-mediated signaling in different cellular compartments participates in the central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory process.
The aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channel antibody is used in the diagnosis of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) due to its high sensitivity and high specificity. However, some patients are reported to have neither optic neuritis nor myelitis despite being positive for the AQP4-autoantibody (AQP4-Ab). Therefore, recent reports suggest that such patients should be diagnosed as having ‘AQP4-autoimmune syndrome’.
Aquaporin 4(AQP4) is a water channel protein strongly expressed in the central nervous system in perimicrovessel astrocyte foot processes, the glia limitans, and ependyma. Expression of AQP4 is highest at the blood-brain barrier and blood-spinal cord barrier, supporting its critical function in material transport across these structures. Recently, presence of the anti-aquaporin-4 antibody in sera has been used as an important diagnostic tool for neuromyelitis optica, suggesting a potential role in central nervous system inflammation.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a relapsing inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system that closely resembles multiple sclerosis.