神经领域-神经系统自身免疫性疾病方向

METHODS::Globally, as populations age there will be challenges and opportunities to deliver optimal health care to senior citizens. Epilepsy, a condition characterised by spontaneous recurrent seizures, is common in older adults (aged >65 years) and yet has received comparatively little attention in this age group. In this Review, we evaluate the underlying causes of epilepsy in older people, explore difficulties in establishing a diagnosis of epilepsy in this population, discuss appropriate antiseizure medications, and evaluate potential surgical treatment options. We consider cognitive, psychological, and psychosocial comorbidities and the effect that epilepsy might have on an older person's broader social or care network in high-income versus middle-income and low-income countries. We emphasise the need for clinical trials to be more inclusive of older people with epilepsy to help inform therapeutic decision making and discuss whether measures to improve vascular risk factors might be an important strategy to reduce the probability of developing epilepsy.

METHODS:RATIONALE:Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is an autoimmune disease that is associated with cell-surface NMDAR-targeting autoantibodies. Typical anti-NMDAR encephalitis symptoms include psychosis, seizure and extrapyramidal side effects. However, early diagnosis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis remains challenging due to the complexity of the motor phenomenon. PATIENT CONCERNS:Here, we report a new diagnosis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis in a young woman with a history of epilepsy. DIAGNOSES:Electroencephalography revealed a typical "extreme delta brush" pattern, which indicated anti-NMDAR encephalitis. INTERVENTIONS:The clinical status of the patient markedly improved after immediate and aggressive immunosuppression therapies. OUTCOMES:The patient was discharged with mild cognitive impairment. However, this was completely resolved 1 month postdischarge. LESSONS:We conclude that subacute onset focal seizure with psychosis as well as compatible electroencephalography findings (i.e., extreme delta brush patterns) should be considered notable early indicators of anti-NMDAR encephalitis. This would ensure early and effective clinical interventions, which are essential for favorable outcomes.

METHODS::People with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) who exhibit minimal to no disability are still over twice as likely to fall as the general population and many of these falls occur during walking. There is a need for more effective ways to detect preclinical walking balance deficits in PwMS. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of optical flow perturbations applied using virtual reality on walking balance in PwMS compared to age-matched controls. We hypothesized that susceptibility to perturbations-especially those in the mediolateral direction-would be larger in PwMS compared to controls. Fourteen PwMS and fourteen age-matched controls walked on a treadmill while viewing a virtual hallway with and without optical flow perturbations in the mediolateral or anterior-posterior directions. We quantified foot placement kinematics, gait variability, lateral margin of stability and, in a separate session, performance on the standing sensory organization test (SOT). We found only modest differences between groups during normal, unperturbed walking. These differences were larger and more pervasive in the presence of mediolateral perturbations, evidenced by higher variability in step width, sacrum position, and margin of stability at heel-strike in PwMS than controls. PwMS also performed worse than controls on the SOT, and there was a modest correlation between step width variability during perturbed gait and SOT visual score. In conclusion, mediolateral optical flow perturbations revealed differences in walking balance in PwMS that went undetected during normal, unperturbed walking. Targeting this difference may be a promising approach to more effectively detect preclinical walking balance deficits in PwMS.

METHODS::A proper clinical evaluation of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is of great importance to detect MS progression. It provides important data for physicians on their daily practice as well as with scientific purpose, especially useful with the development of newer therapeutic options in MS. Clinical outcome measures (COMs) are instruments that enable a standardized characterization of the patient's clinical disease status. A proper COM should have - among other psychometric characteristics - a good validity, reliability and responsiveness. For MS disability, the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) is currently the most frequently used scale. However, different less known COMs are also available and could be implemented on clinical practice. We review the most frequently used COMs of MS progression including their operationalization and statistical considerations, as well as newer composite COMs and digital tools on development. We focus on their responsiveness or capacity to detect clinically relevant changes to identify progression or transition to progressive forms of the disease, as well as therapeutic response.

METHODS::Multiple Sclerosis (MS) progresses at an unpredictable rate, but predictions on the disease course in each patient would be extremely useful to tailor therapy to the individual needs. We explore different machine learning (ML) approaches to predict whether a patient will shift from the initial Relapsing-Remitting (RR) to the Secondary Progressive (SP) form of the disease, using only "real world" data available in clinical routine. The clinical records of 1624 outpatients (207 in the SP phase) attending the MS service of Sant'Andrea hospital, Rome, Italy, were used. Predictions at 180, 360 or 720 days from the last visit were obtained considering either the data of the last available visit (Visit-Oriented setting), comparing four classical ML methods (Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, K-Nearest Neighbours and AdaBoost) or the whole clinical history of each patient (History-Oriented setting), using a Recurrent Neural Network model, specifically designed for historical data. Missing values were handled by removing either all clinical records presenting at least one missing parameter (Feature-saving approach) or the 3 clinical parameters which contained missing values (Record-saving approach). The performances of the classifiers were rated using common indicators, such as Recall (or Sensitivity) and Precision (or Positive predictive value). In the visit-oriented setting, the Record-saving approach yielded Recall values from 70% to 100%, but low Precision (5% to 10%), which however increased to 50% when considering only predictions for which the model returned a probability above a given "confidence threshold". For the History-oriented setting, both indicators increased as prediction time lengthened, reaching values of 67% (Recall) and 42% (Precision) at 720 days. We show how "real world" data can be effectively used to forecast the evolution of MS, leading to high Recall values and propose innovative approaches to improve Precision towards clinically useful values.

METHODS:BACKGROUND:Pharmacological prevention against relapses in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is developing rapidly. We aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, against relapses in patients with NMOSD. METHODS:We did a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial at eight hospitals in Japan. Patients aged 16-80 years with NMOSD who were seropositive for aquaporin 4 (AQP4) antibody, were taking 5-30 mg/day oral steroids, and had an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 7·0 or less were eligible for the study. Individuals taking any other immunosuppressants were excluded. Participants were randomly allocated (1:1) either rituximab or placebo by a computer-aided dynamic random allocation system. The doses of concomitant steroid (converted to equivalent doses of prednisolone) and relapses in previous 2 years were set as stratification factors. Participants and those assessing outcomes were unaware of group assignments. Rituximab (375 mg/m2) was administered intravenously every week for 4 weeks, then 6-month interval dosing was done (1000 mg every 2 weeks, at 24 weeks and 48 weeks after randomisation). A matching placebo was administered intravenously. Concomitant oral prednisolone was gradually reduced to 2-5 mg/day, according to the protocol. The primary outcome was time to first relapse within 72 weeks. Relapses were defined as patient-reported symptoms or any new signs consistent with CNS lesions and attributable objective changes in MRI or visual evoked potential. The primary analysis was done in the full analysis set (all randomly assigned patients) and safety analyses were done in the safety analysis set (all patients who received at least one infusion of assigned treatment). The primary analysis was by intention-to-treat principles. This trial is registered with the UMIN clinical trial registry, UMIN000013453. FINDINGS:Between May 10, 2014, and Aug 15, 2017, 38 participants were recruited and randomly allocated either rituximab (n=19) or placebo (n=19). Three (16%) patients assigned rituximab discontinued the study and were analysed as censored cases. Seven (37%) relapses occurred in patients allocated placebo and none were recorded in patients assigned rituximab (group difference 36·8%, 95% CI 12·3-65·5; log-rank p=0·0058). Eight serious adverse events were recorded, four events in three (16%) patients assigned rituximab (lumbar compression fracture and infection around nail of right foot [n=1], diplopia [n=1], and uterine cancer [n=1]) and four events in two (11%) people allocated to placebo (exacerbation of glaucoma and bleeding in the right eye chamber after surgery [n=1], and visual impairment and asymptomatic white matter brain lesion on MRI [n=1]); all patients recovered. No deaths were reported. INTERPRETATION:Rituximab prevented relapses for 72 weeks in patients with NMOSD who were AQP4 antibody-positive. This study is limited by its small sample size and inclusion of participants with mild disease activity. However, our results suggest that rituximab could be useful maintenance therapy for individuals with NMOSD who are AQP4 antibody-positive. FUNDING:Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, and Zenyaku Kogyo.

METHODS:BACKGROUND:High-efficacy therapies in multiple sclerosis are traditionally used after unsuccessful treatment with first-line disease modifying therapies. We hypothesised that early commencement of high-efficacy therapy would be associated with reduced long-term disability. We therefore aimed to compare long-term disability outcomes between patients who started high-efficacy therapies within 2 years of disease onset with those who started 4-6 years after disease onset. METHODS:In this retrospective international observational study, we obtained data from the MSBase registry and the Swedish MS registry, which prospectively collect patient data that are specific to multiple sclerosis as part of routine clinical care. We identified adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, with at least 6 years of follow-up since disease onset, and who started the high-efficacy therapy (rituximab, ocrelizumab, mitoxantrone, alemtuzumab, or natalizumab) either 0-2 years (early) or 4-6 years (late) after clinical disease onset. We matched patients in the early and late groups using propensity scores calculated on the basis of their baseline clinical and demographic data. The primary outcome was disability, measured with the Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS; an ordinal scale of 0-10, with higher scores indicating increased disability), at 6-10 years after disease onset, assessed with a linear mixed-effects model. FINDINGS:We identified 6149 patients in the MSBase registry who had been given high-efficacy therapy, with data collected between Jan 1, 1975, and April 13, 2017, and 2626 patients in the Swedish MS Registry, with data collected between Dec 10, 1997, and Sept 16, 2019. Of whom, 308 in the MSBase registry and 236 in the Swedish MS registry were eligible for inclusion. 277 (51%) of 544 patients commenced therapy early and 267 (49%) commenced therapy late. For the primary analysis, we matched 213 patients in the early treatment group with 253 in the late treatment group. At baseline, the mean EDSS score was 2·2 (SD 1·2) in the early group and 2·1 (SD 1·2) in the late group. Median follow-up time for matched patients was 7·8 years (IQR 6·7-8·9). In the sixth year after disease onset, the mean EDSS score was 2·2 (SD 1·6) in the early group compared with 2·9 (SD 1·8) in the late group (p<0·0001). This difference persisted throughout each year of follow-up until the tenth year after disease onset (mean EDSS score 2·3 [SD 1·8] vs 3·5 [SD 2·1]; p<0·0001), with a difference between groups of -0·98 (95% CI -1·51 to -0·45; p<0·0001, adjusted for proportion of time on any disease-modifying therapy) across the 6-10 year follow-up period. INTERPRETATION:High-efficacy therapy commenced within 2 years of disease onset is associated with less disability after 6-10 years than when commenced later in the disease course. This finding can inform decisions regarding optimal sequence and timing of multiple sclerosis therapy. FUNDING:National Health and Medical Research Council Australia and MS Society UK.

METHODS:BACKGROUND:Beginning August 2017, we conducted a prospective case-control investigation in Monterrey, Mexico to assess the association between Zika virus (ZIKV) and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). METHODS:For each of 50 GBS case-patients, we enrolled 2-3 afebrile controls (141 controls in total) matched by sex, age group, and presentation to same hospital within 7 days. RESULTS:PCR results for ZIKV in blood and/or urine were available on all subjects; serum ZIKV IgM antibody for 52% of case-patients and 80% of controls. Subjects were asked about antecedent illness in the two months prior to neurological onset (for case-patients) or interview (for controls). Laboratory evidence of ZIKV infection alone (PCR+ or IgM+) was not significantly different between case-patients and controls (OR: 1.26, 95% CI: 0.45-3.54) but antecedent symptomatic ZIKV infection [a typical ZIKV symptom (rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis) plus laboratory evidence of ZIKV infection] was higher among case-patients (OR: 12.45, 95% CI: 1.45-106.64). GBS case-patients with laboratory evidence of ZIKV infection were significantly more likely to have had typical ZIKV symptoms than controls with laboratory evidence of ZIKV infection (OR: 17.5, 95% CI: 3.2-96.6). This association remained significant even when only GBS case-patients who were afebrile for 5 days before onset were included in the analysis, (OR 9.57 (95% CI: 1.07 to 85.35). CONCLUSIONS:During ZIKV epidemics, this study indicates that increases in GBS will occur primarily among those with antecedent symptomatic ZIKV.

METHODS::This study aimed to investigate the effect of long non-coding RNA XLOC_003810 on the activation of CD4+ T cells and expression of PD-1/PD-L1 in patients with myasthenia gravis-related thymoma (MG-T). Thymus specimens and thymic mononuclear cells were obtained from MG and MG-T patients or cardiac surgery patients undergoing thoracotomy who were selected as negative controls (NC). XLOC_003810 expression was examined using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Frequency of CD4+ T cells and proportion of CD4+ PD-1+ T cells and CD14+ PD-L1+ monocytes were quantified by flow cytometry. The release of inflammatory cytokines was measured by qRT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Compared with the NC group, expression of XLOC_003810, frequency of CD4+ T cells and the production of inflammatory cytokines were increased in patients with MG and MG-T. XLOC_003810 overexpression significantly increased the frequency of CD4+ T cells, facilitated the production of inflammatory cytokines and decreased the proportion of CD4+ PD-1+ T cells and CD14+ PD-L1+ monocytes in the thymic mononuclear cells. In contrast, XLOC_003810 knockdown exerted the opposite effect. Together, XLOC_003810 promotes T cell activation and inhibits PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in patients with MG-T.

METHODS::In recent years, extreme attention has been focused on the role of human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis. However, the pathogenesis of MS associated with HHV-6 infection remains unknown. In this study, we measured the serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), and vitamin D levels in MS patients with HHV-6 infection and MS patients without HHV-6 infection. Five hundred sixty (including 300 females and 260 males) MS patients along with 560 healthy subjects were analyzed for HHV-6 seropositivity using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Subsequently, we measured the serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, and vitamin D levels in MS patients with HHV-6 infection and MS patients without HHV-6 infection by ELISA. About 90.7% of MS patients (508/560) were seropositive for HHV-6, while 82.3% (461/560) of healthy subjects were seropositive for this virus (p = 0.001). Moreover, there was a significant increase in the levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, and lower vitamin D in the serum samples of MS patients when compared with healthy subjects. Additionally, we demonstrated that the MMP-9 levels in seropositive MS patients were significantly higher than seronegative MS patients (p =  0.001). Finally, our results demonstrated that the mean of expanded disability status scale (EDSS) in seropositive MS patients was significantly higher in comparison to seronegative MS patients (p < 0.05). In conclusion, we suggest that the HHV-6 infection may play a role in MS pathogenesis.