scholarly journals Reproductive history and progressive multiple sclerosis risk in women

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Burcu Zeydan ◽  
Elizabeth J Atkinson ◽  
Delana M Weis ◽  
Carin Y Smith ◽  
Liliana Gazzuola Rocca ◽  
...  

Abstract Being a woman is one of the strongest risk factors for multiple sclerosis. The natural reproductive period from menarche to natural menopause corresponds to the active inflammatory disease period in multiple sclerosis. The fifth decade marks both the peri-menopausal transition in the reproductive aging and a transition from the relapsing-remitting to the progressive phase in multiple sclerosis. A short reproductive period with premature/early menopause and/or low number of pregnancies may be associated with an earlier onset of the progressive multiple sclerosis phase. A cross-sectional study of survey-based reproductive history in a multiple sclerosis clinical series enriched for patients with progressive disease, and a case–control study of multiple sclerosis and age/sex matched controls from a population-based cohort were conducted. Menarche age, number of complete/incomplete pregnancies, menopause type and menopause age were compared between 137 cases and 396 control females. Onset of relapsing-remitting phase of multiple sclerosis, progressive disease onset and reaching severe disability (expanded disability status scale 6) were studied as multiple sclerosis-related outcomes (n = 233). Menarche age was similar between multiple sclerosis and control females (P = 0.306). Females with multiple sclerosis had fewer full-term pregnancies than the controls (P < 0.001). Non-natural menopause was more common in multiple sclerosis (40.7%) than in controls (30.1%) (P = 0.030). Age at natural menopause was similar between multiple sclerosis (median, interquartile range: 50 years, 48–52) and controls (median, interquartile range: 51 years, 49–53) (P = 0.476). Nulliparous females had earlier age at progressive multiple sclerosis onset (mean ± standard deviation: 41.9 ± 12.5 years) than females with ≥1 full-term pregnancies (mean ± standard deviation: 47.1 ± 9.7 years) (P = 0.069) with a pregnancy-dose effect [para 0 (mean ± standard deviation: 41.9 ± 12.5 years), para 1–3 (mean ± standard deviation: 46.4 ± 9.2 years), para ≥4 (mean ± standard deviation: 52.6 ± 12.9 years) (P = 0.005)]. Menopause age was associated with progressive multiple sclerosis onset age (R2 = 0.359, P < 0.001). Duration from onset of relapses to onset of progressive multiple sclerosis was shorter for females with premature/early menopause (n = 26; mean ± standard deviation: 12.9 ± 9.0 years) than for females with normal menopause age (n = 39; mean ± standard deviation: 17.8 ± 10.3 years) but was longer than for males (mean  ±standard deviation: 10.0 ± 9.4 years) (P = 0.005). There was a pregnancy-dose effect of age at expanded disability status scale 6 (para 0: 43.0 ± 13.2 years, para 1–3: 51.7 ± 11.3 years, para ≥4: 53.5 ± 4.9 years) (P = 0.013). Age at menopause was associated with age at expanded disability status scale 6 (R2 = 0.229, P < 0.003). Premature/early menopause or nulliparity was associated with earlier onset of progressive multiple sclerosis with a ‘dose effect’ of pregnancies on delaying progressive multiple sclerosis and severe disability. Although causality remains uncertain, our results suggest a beneficial impact of oestrogen in delaying progressive multiple sclerosis. If confirmed in prospective studies, our findings have implications for counselling women with multiple sclerosis about pregnancy, surgical menopause and menopausal hormone therapy.

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 626-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Debouverie ◽  
L. Taillandier ◽  
S. Pittion-Vouyovitch ◽  
S. Louis ◽  
H. Vespignani

The objectives of this study were to assess the benefits of 1) mitoxantrone after three years of follow-up and 2) disease-modifying treatment (DMT) after stopping mitoxantrone. A retrospective analysis was performed on 304 patients with active relapsing-remitting (RR) or progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS) who were treated with mitoxantrone. After mitoxantrone therapy, some patients received DMT (interferon-beta or glatiramer acetate) while others did not. The disease course of the two groups was evaluated by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) before and after mitoxantrone and then every year for three years. The mean EDSS score at starting mitoxantrone and three years after stopping mitoxantrone respectively, were: 3.3 (1.3) and 3.2 (1.7) for the RRMS patients and 5.9 (1.2) and 6.4 (1.4) for the PMS patients. Before starting mitoxantrone, demographic and clinical parameters of predictive disability were not significantly different between patients who received DMT or not. The variation of EDSS between time of stopping mitoxantrone and three years later was significantly different (+0.9 versus +0.3; P=0.03) for patients with RRMS. We found that mitoxantrone treatment induces stable disease up to two years after discontinuation of mitoxantrone therapy. In the third year, patients without DMT deteriorated. Multiple Sclerosis 2007; 13: 626-631. http://msj.sagepub.com


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 205521731774762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jutta Gärtner ◽  
Wolfgang Brück ◽  
Almuth Weddige ◽  
Hannah Hummel ◽  
Christiane Norenberg ◽  
...  

Background and objective Study evaluating Betaferon(R)'s safety and tolerability in paediatric patients with multiple sclerosis (BETAPAEDIC) is a prospective, open-label observational multicentre study to assess the safety and effectiveness of interferon beta-1b in paediatric patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis. Methods Treatment-naïve patients (12–16 years) scheduled to start interferon beta-1b were enrolled with follow-up visits every six months for two years. Effectiveness was evaluated by annualised relapse rate, Expanded Disability Status Scale progression, cranial magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive testing. Fatigue was assessed by the Fatigue Severity Scale. Results Sixty-eight patients were screened and 67 enrolled, with mean (standard deviation) age 14.2 (1.3) years ( n=65 in the effectiveness analysis). Mean disease duration was 11 months before study enrolment; at baseline, mean (standard deviation) Expanded Disability Status Scale was 0.6 (1.0); T2 lesion number 18.3 (15.1). Mean annualised relapse rate during the study was 0.7 ( n=57), 28/57 patients (49.1%) had no relapses and for 40/52 (76.9%) no Expanded Disability Status Scale progression was observed; 23/56 (41.1%) were relapse- and progression-free to last follow-up. Neuropsychological test and fatigue scores were within normal ranges (baseline and last follow-up). Eighteen patients had fatigue at some point. New T2 and gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) lesions were seen in 43/55 (66.2%) and 29/55 (52.7%) patients respectively. Most frequent adverse events were influenza-like illness, headache, injection-site reactions and elevated liver enzymes. Conclusion Interferon beta-1b is an effective treatment with a favourable safety profile for paediatric patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
pp. 144-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Senra Correa Carvalho ◽  
Osvaldo José Moreira Nascimento ◽  
Luciane Lacerda Franco Rocha Rodrigues ◽  
Andre Palma Da Cunha Matta

ABSTRACTObjectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and to investigate whether an association exists between the presence of TMD symptoms and the degree of MS-related disability. Materials and Methods: In all, 120 individuals were evaluated: 60 patients with a diagnosis of relapsing-remitting MS and 60 age- and sex-matched controls without neurological impairments. A questionnaire recommended by the European Academy of Craniomandibular Disorders for the assessment of TMD symptoms was administered. For those who answered affirmatively to at least one of the questions, the RDC/TMD Axis I instrument was used for a possible classification of TMD subtypes. The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) was the measure of the degree of MS-related disability. Statistical Analysis Used: Fisher’s exact test was used to analyze the data. ANOVA was used to detect significant differences between means and to assess whether the factors influenced any of the dependent variables by comparing means from the different groups. Results: The prevalence of TMD symptoms in patients with MS was 61.7% versus 18.3% in the control group (CG). A diagnosis of TMD was established for 36.7% in the MS group and 3.3% in the CG (P = 0.0001). There were statistically significant differences between degrees of MS-related disability and the prevalence of TMD (P = 0.0288). Conclusions: The prevalence of both TMD and TMD symptoms was significantly greater in the MS group. EDSS scores and TMD prevalence rates were inversely related.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-376
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Tonetti ◽  
Federico Camilli ◽  
Sara Giovagnoli ◽  
Vincenzo Natale ◽  
Alessandra Lugaresi

Early multiple sclerosis (MS) predictive markers of disease activity/prognosis have been proposed but are not universally accepted. Aim of this pilot prospective study is to verify whether a peculiar hyperactivity, observed at baseline (T0) in early relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients, could represent a further prognostic marker. Here we report results collected at T0 and at a 24-month follow-up (T1). Eighteen RRMS patients (11 females, median Expanded Disability Status Scale-EDSS score 1.25, range EDSS score 0–2) were monitored at T0 (mean age 32.33 ± 7.51) and T1 (median EDSS score 1.5, range EDSS score 0–2.5). Patients were grouped into two groups: responders (R, 14 patients) and non-responders (NR, 4 patients) to treatment at T1. Each patient wore an actigraph for one week to record the 24-h motor activity pattern. At T0, NR presented significantly lower motor activity than R between around 9:00 and 13:00. At T1, NR were characterized by significantly lower motor activity than R between around 12:00 and 17:00. Overall, these data suggest that through the 24-h motor activity pattern, we can fairly segregate at T0 patients who will show a therapeutic failure, possibly related to a more active disease, at T1. These patients are characterized by a reduced morning level of motor activation. Further studies on larger populations are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.


2013 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 275-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Bernardi Bichuetti ◽  
Enedina Maria Lobato de Oliveira ◽  
Nilton Amorin de Souza ◽  
Mar Tintoré ◽  
Alberto Alain Gabbai

Although neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is known to be a more severe disease than relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), few studies comparing both conditions in a single center have been done.Methods:Comparison of our previously published cohort of 41 NMO patients with 177 RRMS patients followed in the same center, from 1994 to 2007.Results:Mean age of onset was 32.6 for NMO and 30.2 for RRMS (p=0.2062) with mean disease duration of 7.4 years for NMO and 10.3 years for RRMS. Patients with NMO had a higher annualized relapse rate (1.0 versus 0.8, p=0.0013) and progression index (0.9 versus 0.6, p≪0.0001), with more patients reaching expanded disability status scale (EDSS) 6.0 (39 versus 17%, p=0.0036). The odds ratio for reaching EDSS 6.0 and being deceased due to NMO in comparison to RRMS were, respectively, 3.14 and 12.15.Conclusion:Patients with NMO have a more severe disease than patients with RRMS, including higher risk of dying of a demyelinating disease.


2008 ◽  
Vol 389 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isobel A. Scarisbrick ◽  
Rachel Linbo ◽  
Alexander G. Vandell ◽  
Mark Keegan ◽  
Sachiko I. Blaber ◽  
...  

Abstract Tissue kallikrein KLK1 and the kallikrein-related peptidases KLK2–15 are a subfamily of serine proteases that have defined or proposed roles in a range of central nervous system (CNS) and non-CNS pathologies. To further understand their potential activity in multiple sclerosis (MS), serum levels of KLK1, 6, 7, 8 and 10 were determined in 35 MS patients and 62 controls by quantitative fluorometric ELISA. Serum levels were then correlated with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores determined at the time of serological sampling or at last clinical follow-up. Serum levels of KLK1 and KLK6 were elevated in MS patients (p≤0.027), with highest levels associated with secondary progressive disease. Elevated KLK1 correlated with higher EDSS scores at the time of serum draw and KLK6 with future EDSS worsening in relapsing remitting patients (p≤0.007). Supporting the concept that KLK1 and KLK6 promote degenerative events associated with progressive MS, exposure of murine cortical neurons to either kallikrein promoted rapid neurite retraction and neuron loss. These novel findings suggest that KLK1 and KLK6 may serve as serological markers of progressive MS and contribute directly to the development of neurological disability by promoting axonal injury and neuron cell death.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A Cohen ◽  
Peter B Imrey ◽  
Sarah M Planchon ◽  
Robert A Bermel ◽  
Elizabeth Fisher ◽  
...  

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exhibit immunomodulatory, tissue-protective, and repair-promoting properties in vitro and in animals. Clinical trials in several human conditions support the safety and efficacy of MSC transplantation. Published experience in multiple sclerosis (MS) is modest. Objective: To assess feasibility, safety, and tolerability and explore efficacy of autologous MSC transplantation in MS. Methods: Participants with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), Expanded Disability Status Scale score 3.0–6.5, disease activity or progression in the prior 2 years, and optic nerve involvement were enrolled. Bone-marrow-derived MSCs were culture-expanded and then cryopreserved. After confirming fulfillment of release criteria, 1–2 × 106 MSCs/kg were thawed and administered IV. Results: In all, 24 of 26 screened patients were infused: 16 women and 8 men, 10 RRMS and 14 SPMS, mean age 46.5, mean Expanded Disability Status Scale score 5.2, 25% with gadolinium-enhancing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions. Mean cell dosage (requiring 1–3 passages) was 1.9 × 106 MSCs/kg (range, 1.5–2.0) with post-thaw viability uniformly ⩾95%. Cell infusion was tolerated well without treatment-related severe or serious adverse events, or evidence of disease activation. Conclusion: Autologous MSC transplantation in MS appears feasible, safe, and well tolerated. Future trials to assess efficacy more definitively are warranted.


Neurology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 89 (24) ◽  
pp. 2462-2468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Burman ◽  
Johan Zelano

Objective:To determine the cumulative incidence of epilepsy in a population-based cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to investigate the association between epilepsy and clinical features of MS.Methods:All available patients in the Swedish MS register (n = 14,545) and 3 age- and sex-matched controls per patient randomly selected from the population register (n = 43,635) were included. Data on clinical features of MS were retrieved from the Swedish MS register, and data on epilepsy and death were retrieved from comprehensive patient registers.Results:The cumulative incidence of epilepsy was 3.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.17–3.76) in patients with MS and 1.4% (95% CI 1.30–1.52) in controls (risk ratio 2.5, 95% CI 2.19–2.76). In a Cox proportional model, MS increased the risk of epilepsy (hazard ratio 3.2, 95% CI 2.64–3.94). Patients with relapsing-remitting MS had a cumulative incidence of epilepsy of 2.2% (95% CI 1.88–2.50), whereas patients with progressive disease had a cumulative incidence of 5.5% (95% CI 4.89–6.09). The cumulative incidence rose continuously with increasing disease duration to 5.9% (95% CI 4.90–7.20) in patients with disease duration ≥34 years. Patients with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score ≥7 had a cumulative incidence of epilepsy of 5.3% (95% CI 3.95–7.00). Disease duration and EDSS score were associated with epilepsy after multiple logistic regression (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.04 per year, p = 0.001; and OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.09–1.26 per EDSS step, p < 0.0001).Conclusions:Epilepsy is more common among patients with MS than in the general population, and a diagnosis of MS increases the risk of epilepsy. Our data suggest a direct link between severity of MS and epilepsy.


2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. S46-S55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludwig Kappos

Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is a form of MS characterized by continuously worsening disability with or without superimposed relapses that occurs after a variable period of relapsing remitting disease and results in limited ambulation for almost all patients. The use of interferon beta (IFN b) for immunomodulation in patients with SPMS has been evaluated in four recent clinical trials: The European multicentre trial on IFN b-1b in SPMS (EUSPMS), the Secondary Progressive Efficacy Trial of Rebif (IFN b-1a) in MS (SPEC TRIMS), the North A merican Study of IFN b-1b in SPMS (NA SPMS), and the Internatio nal MS Secondary Progressive Avonex C linical Trial (IMPAC T). EUSPMS was the only trial to demonstrate a significant positive effect of therapy on disease progression as measured by the expanded disability status scale (EDSS). However, results from all studies demonstrated significant positive effects of treatment on relapse, T2 lesion load, and gadolinium enhancement. Immunomodulation with IFN b has the potential to significantly slow disease progression and improve quality of life for patients with SPMS. While results with monthly IV Ig were disappointing, positive effects on disease progression have been reported with the applicatio n of immunosuppressants, especially Mitoxantrone. The risk-benefit ratio of these cytostatic agents remains controversial. New strategies addressing the important neurodegenerative aspects of the disease are urgently needed.


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