This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Objective: To study immunologic alterations in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO).
Methods: The authors studied 8 patients with NMO together with 16 healthy subjects, 16 patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), and 16 patients with secondary progressive MS (SPMS), matched for age and sex, as controls. Because recent histopathologic studies have demonstrated that active NMO lesions consist of perivascular immunoglobulin (Ig) deposition and eosinophil infiltration, IL-5, IL-6, IL-12, IgG, and IgM production by anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) mononuclear cells in peripheral blood and CSF were selected for study using ELISPOT. Eotaxin-2 (Eo-2) and eotaxin-3 (Eo-3) levels were also assessed using ELISA and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels by radioimmunoassay.
Results: MOG-specific responses in CSF showed significant increase in IL-5, IL-6, IgG, and IgM secreting cells in NMO patients compared with patients with RRMS, SPMS and healthy subjects. Interestingly, numbers of IgM secreting cells were significantly higher than identical specificity IgG secreting ones. Moreover, CSF Eo-2, Eo-3, and ECP levels were also significantly higher in NMO patients compared to all three control populations. Anti-MOG IL-12 secreting cells were increased in CSF and peripheral blood from NMO, RRMS, and SPMS patients when compared to healthy subjects.
Conclusions: These observations suggest that neuromyelitis optica is associated with a major humoral immune response (particularly anti-MOG IgM production) and eosinophil activation present exclusively in CSF.
- Received April 9, 2004.
- Accepted in final form September 3, 2004.
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
