It appears that there is a highly significant correlation between the production of oligoclonal bands and two MS susceptibility genes, one located on chromosome 6 and the other on chromosome 14. This first analysis was repeated on 3891 further samples to confirm the results obtained from the first series. The authors of this paper analysed 3026 samples of cerebrospinal fluid of worldwide provenance. An Goris (KUL), which was partly supported by the Charcot Foundation. This has just been demonstrated by the work of Prof. Genetic factorsįinally, the synthesis of oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid is dependent of genetic factors. A patient is considered positive for CSF oligoclonal bands if here are two. These results need to be confirmed on a larger number of patients. However, a very recent study has shown that in 24 MS patients treated with Tysabri, oligoclonal bands disappeared completely in 55 % of the cases and partly in 27 %. Until now, existing treatments have not suppressed the presence of such oligoclonal bands. However, the presence of such bands is a predictive factor for a more rapid evolution and a more severe disability. Forms of MS without oligoclonal banding or with a very small number of bands are generally considered to be more benign and atrophy of the cerebral cortex is less. When the bands are present at the first clinical manifestation, they are predictive for a second attack leading to the diagnosis of “clinically definite multiple sclerosis”. Oligoclonal bands are present at the disease’s onset and generally persist throughout its progression. The chief interest of this anomaly is therefore the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, as with the current technologies it is found in approximately 95 % of MS patients. However, the antibody activity of most oligoclonal bands remains unknown so far. A minority of oligoclonal bands have an antibody activity against various neurotropic viruses such as measles, rubella, mumps, chickenpox/shingles, etc. We know that these bands are produced by cells known as plasma cells which are present in the meninges and brain, sometimes in the form of ectopic lymphoid follicles, never observed in a normal brain. Antibody activityĪt this point in time, we do not know yet what is the antibody activity of most of these oligoclonal bands, or what, if any, may be their pathological role in the multiple-sclerosis process. In Greek, the meaning of oligo is “a few”, while clonal designates lymphocyte clones which have crossed the barrier between blood and cerebrospinal fluid and infiltrate the meninges and the central nervous system. Laterre and passed into international usage. The word “oligoclonal” was coined by Prof. In the early 1960s, Professors Lowenthal in Antwerp and Laterre in Louvain showed that the increase in the immunoglobulins content appeared as specific “oligoclonal bands” in the cerebrospinal fluid despite not being present in the patient’s serum. This observation classified multiple sclerosis definitively as an inflammatory and immune disease. the proteins which correspond to all our antibodies) increase in the cerebrospinal fluid of MS patients as well as of neurosyphilis patients.
Duplication for commercial use must be authorized in writing by ADAM Health Solutions.In 1948, Kabat and his colleagues (Columbia University, New York) showed for the first time that immunoglobulins (i.e.
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