Association of Neuromyelitis Optica With Severe and Intractable Pain. Qian P, Lancia S, Alvarez E, Klawiter EC, Cross AH, Naismith RT. Abstract OBJECTIVE To contrast differences in pain and treatment outcomes between neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS)
Background: The identification of biomarkers able to improve the differential diagnosis between multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is challenging because of a different prognosis and response to treatment. Growing evidence indicates that brain and CSF N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) concentration is a useful marker for characterising different phases of axonal pathology in demyelinating diseases, and preliminary studies suggest that increased serum NAA levels may be a telltale sign of acute neuronal damage or defective NAA metabolism in oligodendrocytes