scholarly journals Case Report: Persisting Lymphopenia During Neuropsychiatric Tumefactive Multiple Sclerosis Rebound Upon Fingolimod Withdrawal

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Koska ◽  
Moritz Förster ◽  
Katja Brouzou ◽  
Ercan Arat ◽  
Philipp Albrecht ◽  
...  

Fingolimod (FTY) is a disease modifying therapy for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) which can lead to severe lymphopenia requiring therapy discontinuation in order to avoid adverse events. However, this can result in severe disease reactivation occasionally presenting with tumefactive demyelinating lesions (TDLs). TDLs, which are thought to originate from a massive re-entry of activated lymphocytes into the central nervous system, are larger than 2 cm in diameter and may feature mass effect, perifocal edema, and gadolinium enhancement. In these cases, it can be challenging to exclude important differential diagnoses for TDLs such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) or other opportunistic infections. Here, we present the case of a 26-year-old female patient who suffered a massive rebound with TDLs following FTY discontinuation with primarily neuropsychiatric symptoms despite persisting lymphopenia. Two cycles of seven plasmaphereses each were necessary to achieve remission and ocrelizumab was used for long-term stabilization.

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 750-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Devlin ◽  
Andrew Swayne ◽  
Martin Newman ◽  
Cullen O’Gorman ◽  
Helen Brown ◽  
...  

This report will detail a case of immune-mediated encephalitis in the context of daclizumab therapy. Daclizumab is a humanised monoclonal antibody which, prior to its recent worldwide withdrawal due to safety concerns, was utilised as a disease-modifying therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. The withdrawal of this therapy was prompted by concerns over 12 cases of serious immune-mediated adverse reactions in the central nervous system. We report an additional case, including clinical data and results of neuroimaging, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination and brain biopsy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Cadenas-Fernández ◽  
Pablo Ahumada-Pascual ◽  
Luis Sanz Andreu ◽  
Ana Velasco

: Mammalian nervous systems depend crucially on myelin sheaths covering the axons. In the central nervous system, myelin sheaths consist of lipid structures which are generated from the membrane of oligodendrocytes (OL). These sheaths allow fast nerve transmission, protect axons and provide them metabolic support. In response to specific traumas or pathologies, these lipid structures can be destabilized and generate demyelinating lesions. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an example of a demyelinating disease in which the myelin sheaths surrounding the nerve fibers of the brain and spinal cord are damaged. MS is the leading cause of neurological disability in young adults in many countries, and its incidence has been increasing in recent decades. Related to its etiology, it is known that MS is an autoimmune and inflammatory CNS disease. However, there are no effective treatments for this disease and the immunomodulatory therapies that currently exist have proven limited success since they only delay the progress of the disease. Nowadays, one of the main goals in the MS research is to find treatments which allows the recovery of neurological disabilities due to demyelination. To this end, different approaches, such as modulating intracellular signaling or regulating the lipid metabolism of OLs, are being considered. Here, in addition to immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory drugs that reduce the immune response against myelin sheaths, we review a diverse group of drugs that promotes endogenous remyelination in MS patients and whose use may be interesting as potential therapeutic agents in MS disease. To this end, we compile specific treatments against MS that are currently in the market with remyelination strategies which have entered into human clinical trials for future reparative MS therapies. The method used in this study is a systematic literature review on PubMed, Web of Science and Science Direct databases up to May 31, 2020. To narrow down the search results in databases, more specific keywords, such as, “myelin sheath”, “remyelination”, “demyelination”, “oligodendrocyte” and “lipid synthesis” were used to focus the search. We favoured papers published after January, 2015, but did not exclude earlier seminal papers.


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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (23) ◽  
pp. 9249
Author(s):  
Lars Masanneck ◽  
Susann Eichler ◽  
Anna Vogelsang ◽  
Melanie Korsen ◽  
Heinz Wiendl ◽  
...  

Cyclic GMP-AMP-synthase is a sensor of endogenous nucleic acids, which subsequently elicits a stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-dependent type I interferon (IFN) response defending us against viruses and other intracellular pathogens. This pathway can drive pathological inflammation, as documented for type I interferonopathies. In contrast, specific STING activation and subsequent IFN-β release have shown beneficial effects on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) as a model for multiple sclerosis (MS). Although less severe cases of relapse-remitting MS (RRMS) are treated with IFN-β, there is little information correlating aberrant type I IFN signaling and the pathologic conditions of MS. We hypothesized that there is a link between STING activation and the endogenous production of IFN-β during neuroinflammation. Gene expression analysis in EAE mice showed that Sting level decreased in the peripheral lymphoid tissue, while its level increased within the central nervous system over the course of the disease. Similar patterns could be verified in peripheral immune cells during the acute phases of RRMS in comparison to remitting phases and appropriately matched healthy controls. Our study is the first to provide evidence that the STING/IFN-β-axis is downregulated in RRMS patients, meriting further intensified research to understand its role in the pathophysiology of MS and potential translational applications.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 231-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin M. Ikeda ◽  
Donald H. Lee ◽  
J. Alexander Fraser ◽  
Seyed Mirsattari ◽  
Sarah A. Morrow

Tumefactive multiple sclerosis (MS) is an aggressive form of MS that can be difficult to treat with standard therapies. In severe MS relapses, plasma exchange (PLEX) has shown some benefit, but reports of its use in patients with tumefactive MS are limited. This article describes the successful use of PLEX in a patient with tumefactive MS. A 46-year-old right-handed woman with a recent diagnosis of MS presented with drowsiness, dysarthria, horizontal nystagmus, and quadriparesis. Her brain magnetic resonance images demonstrated multiple tumefactive demyelinating lesions in the medulla, bilateral periventricular white matter, and corona radiata white matter. She was initially treated with a 10-day course of intravenous methylprednisolone without benefit; therefore, PLEX was initiated. After the second exchange, the patient started to improve and was discharged initially to rehabilitation and then home. She was started on disease-modifying therapy with natalizumab and did not experience further relapses but had slow clinical decline during the next year, which led to discontinuation of natalizumab treatment. PLEX may be used as second-line treatment in corticosteroid-resistant MS relapses, but there are limited reports of its use in patients with tumefactive MS. This patient presented with aggressive disease with multiple tumefactive lesions and did not respond to standard treatment with corticosteroids. PLEX was successful in improving her symptoms, allowing her to return home, although the disease progressed during the next year.


2021 ◽  
pp. 65-68
Author(s):  
Michel Toledano

A 47-year-old woman with a history of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) receiving natalizumab therapy sought a second opinion regarding a recent diagnosis of secondary progressive disease. She was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 8 years earlier. While taking natalizumab, she was monitored for the development of antibodies to JC polyoma virus. Nine months before our evaluation, anti-JC polyoma virus antibodies became positive, with an increased index of 1.1. Given sustained remission, she was continued on natalizumab with increased surveillance and a plan to switch to a different disease-modifying therapy after 24 months. Five months later she noted subacute onset of slurred speech and right upper extremity incoordination. Over the next 4 months she continued to have clinical decline. On examination she had moderate ataxic dysarthria and right greater than left appendicular ataxia. She relied on a wheelchair for transportation and required 1-person assist to stand. Reflexes were brisk with bilateral Babinski sign. This patient with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis on natalizumab had a new subacute progressive cerebellar syndrome without radiographic evidence of disease activity. Repeated magnetic resonance imaging showed worsening cerebellar atrophy, right sided greater than left sided, and evolving T2 hyperintensity in the brainstem without enhancement or mass effect. JC polyoma virus polymerase chain reaction was positive. The patient was diagnosed with JC polyoma virus granule cell neuronopathy. Natalizumab was discontinued, and she was treated with 4 of 5 planned cycles of plasma exchange. After her 4th cycle, worsening symptoms developed. Magnetic resonance imaging showed gadolinium enhancement in the brainstem supportive of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. She received high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone followed by a prednisone taper. Her disability progression stabilized. JC polyoma virus central nervous system infection, 1 of several infections reported among treated patients with multiple sclerosis, occurs almost exclusively in immunosuppressed patients, including those receiving disease-modifying therapy for multiple sclerosis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 3038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remsha Afzal ◽  
Jennifer K Dowling ◽  
Claire E McCoy

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune condition characterized by demyelinating lesions and axonal degradation. Even though the cause of MS is heterogeneous, it is known that peripheral immune invasion in the central nervous system (CNS) drives pathology at least in the most common form of MS, relapse-remitting MS (RRMS). The more progressive forms’ mechanisms of action remain more elusive yet an innate immune dysfunction combined with neurodegeneration are likely drivers. Recently, increasing studies have focused on the influence of metabolism in regulating immune cell function. In this regard, exercise has long been known to regulate metabolism, and has emerged as a promising therapy for management of autoimmune disorders. Hence, in this review, we inspect the role of key immunometabolic pathways specifically dysregulated in MS and highlight potential therapeutic benefits of exercise in modulating those pathways to harness an anti-inflammatory state. Finally, we touch upon current challenges and future directions for the field of exercise and immunometabolism in MS.


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