Anti-aquaporin-4 antibody is involved in the pathogenesis of NMO: a study on antibody titre

fiona submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (brain.oxfordjournals.org)

"Anti-AQP4 antibody titres became lower after high-dose methylprednisolone, and a follow-up showed anti-AQP4 antibody titres remained low in relapse-free periods under immunosuppression. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-anti-AQP4 antibody was detected when the serum-antibody titres exceeded 512x, at the ratio of 1 (CSF) to 500 (serum). Using a sensitive assay, the results of the present study suggest that NMO and high-risk syndrome may be essentially anti-AQP4 antibody-associated disorders, and that the anti-AQP4 antibody titres have significant clinical and immunological implications in NMO. "

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Loss of aquaporin 4 in lesions of neuromyelitis optica: distinction from multiple sclerosis

julie submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (brain.oxfordjournals.org)

”The present study demonstrated that the immunoreactivities of AQP4 and GFAP were consistently lost from the early stage of the lesions in NMO, notably in the perivascular regions with complement and immunoglobulin deposition. These features in NMO were distinct from those of MS and infarction as well as normal controls, and suggest that astrocytic impairment associated with the loss of AQP4 and humoral immunity may be important in the pathogenesis of NMO lesions. "

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Heterogeneity of aquaporin-4 autoimmunity and spinal cord lesions in multiple sclerosis in Japanese

julie submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (brain.oxfordjournals.org)

”These findings suggested that LESCLs are distinct in anti-AQP4 antibody positivity and clinical phenotypes. There were cases of anti-AQP4 antibody-positive MS/NMO distinct from CMS, and anti-AQP4 antibody-negative OSMS with LESCLs in Japanese. This indicated that the mechanisms producing LESCLs are also heterogeneous in cases with optic–spinal presentation, namely AQP4 autoimmunity-related and -unrelated. “

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Pattern-specific loss of aquaporin-4 immunoreactivity distinguishes neuromyelitis optica from multiple sclerosis

julie submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (brain.oxfordjournals.org)

"Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease that typically affects optic nerves and spinal cord. Its pathogenic relationship to multiple sclerosis (MS) is uncertain.“

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Antibody to Aquaporin 4 in the Diagnosis of Neuromyelitis Optica

cappuccion submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (medicine.plosjournals.org)

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) of putative autoimmune aetiology. Early discrimination between multiple sclerosis (MS) and NMO is important, as optimum treatment for both diseases may differ considerably. Recently, using indirect immunofluorescence analysis, a new serum autoantibody (NMO-IgG) has been detected in NMO patients. The binding sites of this autoantibody were reported to colocalize with aquaporin 4 (AQP4) water channels. Thus we hypothesized that AQP4 antibodies in fact characterize NMO patients

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