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Damaged myelin in the brain and spinal cord does not cause the autoimmune disease Multiple sclerosis (MS), neuroimmunologists from the University of Zurich have now demonstrated in collaboration with researchers from Berlin, Leipzig, Mainz and Munich.

In the current issue of Nature Neuroscience, they therefore rule out a popular hypothesis on the origins of MS. The scientists are now primarily looking for the cause of the development of MS in the immune system instead of the central nervous system.

Millions of adults suffer from the incurable disease multiple sclerosis (MS). It is relatively certain that MS is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s own defense cells attack the myelin in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin enwraps the nerve cells and is important for their function of transmitting stimuli as electrical signals. There are numerous unconfirmed hypotheses on the development of MS, one of which has now been refuted by the neuroimmunologists in their current research: The death of oligodendrocytes, as the cells that produce the myelin sheath are called, does not trigger MS.... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1845

I don't understand could one of you brainy people please explain what this means....

In other news Neurologists confirm long held hypothesis - Yes Bears do S**t in the Woods.

Lol thanks for that detailed response! Stilld don't get it!

Hey LR--
Here's the abstract of the research....this might help.

Anti-myelin immunity is commonly thought to drive multiple sclerosis, yet the initial trigger of this autoreactivity remains elusive. One of the proposed factors for initiating this disease is the primary death of oligodendrocytes. To specifically test such oligodendrocyte death as a trigger for anti-CNS immunity, we inducibly killed oligodendrocytes in an in vivo mouse model. Strong microglia-macrophage activation followed oligodendrocyte death, and myelin components in draining lymph nodes made CNS antigens available to lymphocytes. However, even conditions favoring autoimmunity—bystander activation, removal of regulatory T cells, presence of myelin-reactive T cells and application of demyelinating antibodies—did not result in the development of CNS inflammation after oligodendrocyte death. In addition, this lack of reactivity was not mediated by enhanced myelin-specific tolerance. Thus, in contrast with previously reported impairments of oligodendrocyte physiology, diffuse oligodendrocyte death alone or in conjunction with immune activation does not trigger anti-CNS immunity.

http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vao ... .3062.html

Basically---the researchers killed off oligodendrocytes in mice BUT there was no central nervous system inflammation that developed after this step. So, this can't be the first step in MS, because inflammation is a huge part of the MS disease process, at least in the beginning. They're saying the current theory that MS begins as an autoimmune attack on myelin is not correct. EAE probably isn't the right model, then. And yes, bears do go in the woods....
cheer

Basically---the researchers killed off oligodendrocytes in mice BUT there was no central nervous system inflammation that developed after this step. So, this can't be the first step in MS, because inflammation is a huge part of the MS disease process, at least in the beginning. They're saying the current theory that MS begins as an autoimmune attack on myelin is not correct. EAE probably isn't the right model, then. And yes, bears do go in the woods....
cheer

Still can't believe they are using that poor MS mouse to try and find the answers to this disease!! Nothing concrete has come out of these mouse experiments for decades. The more things change, the more they remain the same!

HarryZ wrote: Still can't believe they are using that poor MS mouse to try and find the answers to this disease!! Nothing concrete has come out of these mouse experiments for decades. The more things change, the more they remain the same!

I've got to admit that I can't get my mind around what the researchers are saying their study implies, in addition to or maybe based on the fact that I never realized researcher assumptions involving early MS are what the researchers say they are

Article wrote:Anti-myelin immunity is commonly thought to drive multiple sclerosis, yet the initial trigger of this autoreactivity remains elusive. One of the proposed factors for initiating this disease is the primary death of oligodendrocytes.