Hans P Hartung

..Interferon-beta (IFNB) therapy for multiple sclerosis can lead to the induction of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against IFNB. Various methods are used for detection and quantification of NAbs...

..However, little is known so far about the clinical impact of AQP4-Ab seropositivity...

..Vaccination against influenza is associated with a very low risk for the occurrence of GBS. In contrast infection with influenza may play a more important role as a triggering factor for GBS than previously assumed...

..However, the ability of these different ES cell-derived immature neural cell populations to generate functional neuronal networks has not been assessed so far...

..This article summarizes the content of this supplement, discusses issues related to measuring NAbs in clinical practice, and gives practical alternatives for managing MS in patients who develop NAbs during IFNbeta therapy...

..This review covers new developments in these fields and highlights the broad range of potential therapeutic areas in which IVIg may have a clinical impact...

..The risk of PML in patients with MS needs to be continually monitored and should be reduced with all means available to ensure optimal outcome...

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..A third treatment arm will provide a comparison with glatiramer acetate 20mg subcutaneously once daily...

..Further increases in our understanding of the pathogenesis of MS are likely to assist in the identification of new targets for disease-modifying therapies and in the optimisation of current treatments....

..In conclusion, IVIg has numerous modes of action, which culminate in the down-regulation of the immune response; many of which may be relevant to neuromuscular disorders and immune neuropathies...

..This article summarizes the opinions of the expert panel on a number of key issues raised at the meeting...

..Preliminary results of the 96-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter CLARITY (CLAdRIbine Tablets Treating MS OrallY) study are encouraging and provide the first complete phase III data on an oral DMD for MS...

..Here, we review the available clinical data as well as the scientific rationale and expected benefits and risks for these strategies...

..They clearly show that oral cladribine reduces relapse rate, disability progression and disease activity and burden as evidenced by MRI...

..Treatment options for patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis are few. Encouraging results in open-label studies prompted this randomised trial of mitoxantrone in such patients...

..Ongoing clinical studies are investigating the safety, tolerability and efficacy of atacicept in patients with MS, SLE and RA...

..This article also provides a speculative look at what the treatment algorithm may look like in 5 years, with the availability of new data, greater experience and, potentially, other novel agents...

..To determine the frequency and consequences of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) in patients with a first event suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with interferon β-1b (IFNβ-1b)...

..All have been shown to reduce the number of gadolinium-enhancing T1 lesions observed with magnetic resonance imaging, an index of acute inflammatory invasion of the central nervous system...

..The clinical utility of disease-modifying agents in MS will be reviewed with respect to the anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and immunosuppressive treatments that are currently available. Symptomatic therapies will not be considered...

..To investigate the expression of cyclo-oxygenases (COX), key enzymes in propagating inflammatory responses by converting arachidonic acid to prostaglandins, in inflammatory demyelinating disorders of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)...

..In MS patients we demonstrate the functionality of the ICOS costimulatory pathway. Potential implications of ICOSL/ICOS interactions for MS immunopathogenesis are discussed...

..This review focuses on advances in current and novel treatment approaches in multiple sclerosis...

..We conclude that some desirable immune-modulatory effects of INF-beta might be accomplished via the upregulation of the immune-tolerogenic molecule HLA-G...

..Our findings indicate that ADAM-17 is upregulated during EAN and expressed in nerves of GBS patients and thus may contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory demyelination of the PNS...

..CONCLUSION: Mitoxantrone may inhibit the migration of inflammatory cells into and within the central nervous system...

..In conclusion, the effects of COP-1 in the applied hybrid strain displaying a faster disease progression were less pronounced than in the earlier tested inbred strain of ALS mice...

..This review summarizes current knowledge on the interaction of Schwann cells with the immune system, which is involved in diseases of the peripheral nervous system...

..This may foster the development of specific and highly effective therapies for immune-mediated disorders of the peripheral nerve...

..We review the role of the immune system for the manifestation and evolution of MS and discuss different pathogenetic concepts. We conclude with an outlook on future strategies to identify the cause of MS...

..These findings might indicate a mechanism by which systemic infections and the microbial stimuli associated with them may influence already existing CNS autoimmune pathology...

..Future treatments will likely need both to target inflammation and to focus on promotion of neuroprotection and repair. In this review, we discuss the most promising therapeutic approaches for MS currently in the pipeline...

..We set out to elucidate possible reasons for this apparent contradiction...

..This article reviews data thus far present both on the pharmacokinetics as well as on the putative mechanisms of action of the interferon-betas, glatiramer acetate, and mitoxantrone in the immunopathogenesis of MS...

..We conclude that auditory processing is disturbed at long latency ranges following the N100, which may result in the clinical presentation of pure word deafness...

..The aim of this review is to describe the value of high-dose polyclonal intravenous immunoglobulins as a treatment option in autoimmune disorders affecting the peripheral nervous system...

..In this review, we discuss the backgrounds, mechanisms of action and future perspectives of atorvastatin and simvastatin as putative future treatment options in MS...

..ADEM is a para- or postinfectious autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system and has been considered a monophasic disease. The highest incidence of ADEM is observed during childhood...

..Plasma exchange is frequently used for treatment of immune-mediated neuropathies. Here, we review the current value of plasma exchange in the treatment of different forms of immune-mediated neuropathies and discuss latest developments...

..001), including pluripotent cells in colony-forming assays. This mobilizing ability of natalizumab might be useful for patients with poor response to granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-based protocols...

..Taken together, MRI of mouse EAE models with brain lesions provide new insights into lesion pathology and evolution and may prove useful for the in vivo assessment of new therapeutic strategies in MS...

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..Here, we review current knowledge of the immunopathogenesis of MS and corresponding animal models of disease, and discuss new immunointerventional treatment strategies based on changing pathogenetic concepts...

..This review provides information on data thus far present on the putative mechanisms of action of mitoxantrone in the immunopathogenesis of this disabling disease...

..Furthermore, the role of statins as potential pharmacotherapy for MS is discussed in the context of the mechanisms of approved immunotherapies in MS, namely IFN-beta and glatiramer acetate (GA)...

..Therefore, OPN expression by lesion-associated macrophages may contribute to the nonpermissive nature of the adult CNS preventing axonal regeneration following injury...

..This review covers the growing literature of the past years that deals with the pathogenesis, diagnostic criteria and treatment of CIDP...

..Second, there is evidence that axonal loss, rather than demyelination, underlies the progression of MS and, hence, constitutes a therapeutic target...

..The data suggest that the visually cued movements of both hands were recoupled by action of a bihemispheric motor network...

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..In contrast, under inflammatory conditions, ADAM-10, expressed by perivascular macrophages, and ADAM-17, expressed by invading T cells, may actively contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory disorders of the CNS...

..Strategies to assess and manage the long-term impact of neutralising antibodies will be outlined...

..The current knowledge of the putative mechanisms of action of the compound is discussed...

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..Although interferon beta represents a mainstay in therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), statins are considered a potential new approach in treating MS...

..Neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of OPN may be relevant for a variety of neurological disease conditions...

..Our results imply a pathogenic role for specific chemokine receptors and IP-10 in the genesis of inflammatory demyelinating neuropathies...

..In this review, the results of the CAMS study are discussed in the context of previous trials, the putative mechanism of action of cannabinoids and their adverse event profile...

..The present study highlights the differential distribution pattern of newly described MMPs among different tissues and underlines differences in the mRNA expression between different species...

..A limited effect of rituximab on B lymphocytes in the cerebrospinal fluid compartment of patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) was recently reported...

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..As the evidence of the benefit of statins in MS is currently insufficient, large controlled clinical trials are needed. The first of these trials is about to start...

..This review will address the rationale for immunotherapy in GBS based on experimental and immunologic studies of the pathogenesis of this disease...

..controls...

..CONCLUSION: Our present data indicate that IL-23 may play an important role during the early effector phase in immune-mediated demyelination of the peripheral nerve...

..In this review, we describe the current views on oligodendrocyte biology, myelination and remyelination, and focus on recent developments leading to reconstructing, remyelinating strategies in MS...

..This study identifies short-lived plasma blasts as the main effector B cell population involved in ongoing active inflammation in multiple sclerosis patients...

..Our results suggest that certain ADAMs are expressed by specific cell populations during the genesis of immune-mediated diseases of human muscle...

..Myasthenia gravis and Lambert-Eaton syndrome represent neuromuscular disorders where plasmapheresis might be of potential efficacy...

..Overall these findings suggest a pathogenic antibody response to native MOG in a subgroup of MS patients...

..Our aim was to determine whether early initiation of treatment with interferon beta prevents development of confirmed disability in MS...

..The BENEFIT study examined interferon beta (IFNB)-1b treatment in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and > or = 2 clinically silent brain MRI lesions...

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..The relative importance of each of these actions is presently unknown, and still other actions of IFNbeta may be at play. The possibility that therapeutic IFNbeta compensates for a lack of endogenous IFNbeta production is discussed...

..We therefore set out to test two different doses of a new formulation of immunoglobulin termed IGIV-C 10% for suppression of both clinical and MRI disease activity as well as safety...

..IFN-beta up-regulates B7-H1 in vitro and in MS patients in vivo and might represent a novel mechanism how IFN-beta acts as a negative modulator on APC T-cell interactions in the periphery...

..Finally, with mitoxantrone we have a drug at hand which can be used in progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, especially when other disease modifying drugs are not or no longer effective...

..Peripheral Nerve Society Biennial Meeting, organized in conjunction with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Research and Culture, held at Telfs, Tyrol, Austria from 8-12 September 2001...