Multiple sclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the CNS, is characterized by immune-mediated demyelination. Many patients have a remitting-relapsing course of disease with exacerbations often following unrelated microbial illnesses. The relationship between the two events remains obscure. One possibility is that T cells specific for the inciting microbial pathogen are able to effect demye...

Demyelinated lesions in the cerebral cortex and cortical atrophy have recently been recognized as important components of multiple sclerosis pathology. Although it has consistently been recognized in studies on the pathology of multiple sclerosis that demyelination may not only affect white matter but also the cortex and deep grey matter nuclei (Brownell and Hughes, 1962; Lumsden, 1970; Kidd et...

In this study we demonstrate perforin-mediated cytotoxic effector function is necessary for viral clearance and may directly contribute to the development of neurologic deficits after demyelination in the Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) model of multiple sclerosis. We previously demonstrated major histocompatability complex (MHC) class I-deficient (beta2m-deficient) mice with an...

OBJECTIVE Considering demyelination is the pathological hallmark of multiple sclerosis (MS), reducing demyelination and/or promoting remyelination is a practical therapeutic strategy to improve functional recovery for MS. An apolipoprotein E (apoE)-mimetic peptide COG112 has previously demonstrated therapeutic efficacy on functional and histological recovery in a mouse experimental autoimmune e...

OBJECTIVE Correlation of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with histochemical staining for demyelination and axonal damage in multiple sclerosis (MS) ex vivo human cervical spinal cords. BACKGROUND In MS, demyelination, axonal degeneration, and inflammation contribute to disease pathogenesis to variable degrees. Based upon in vivo animal studies with acute injury and histopathologic correlation,...

Demyelinating lesions of the brain have been frequently reported to mimic tumors, whereas very few cases of tumefactive demyelination of the spine have been reported. We report a patient with tumefactive demyelination of the spinal cord who was clinically, by MRI, and by frozen section diagnosed with tumor and had complete surgical resection. Hence patients with spinal cord lesions suspicious o...

Although the precise mechanism underlying initial lesion development in multiple sclerosis (MS) remains unclear, CNS inflammation has long been associated with demyelination, and axonal degeneration. The activation of microglia/macrophages, which serve as innate immune cells in the CNS, is the first reaction to even minor pathologic changes in the CNS and is considered an initial pathogenic eve...