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Objective: Previous work measures spinal cord thinning in chronic progressive myelopathies, including human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Quantitative measurements of spinal cord atrophy are important in fully characterizing these and other spinal cord diseases. We aimed to investigate patterns of spinal cord atrophy and correlations with clinical markers.
Methods: Spinal cord cross-sectional area was measured in individuals (24 healthy controls [HCs], 17 asymptomatic carriers of HTLV-1 (AC), 47 HAM/TSP, 74 relapsing-remitting MS [RRMS], 17 secondary progressive MS [SPMS], and 40 primary progressive MS [PPMS]) from C1 to T10. Clinical disability scores, viral markers, and immunological parameters were obtained for patients and correlated with representative spinal cord cross-sectional area regions at the C2 to C3, C4 to C5, and T4 to T9 levels. In 2 HAM/TSP patients, spinal cord cross-sectional area was measured over 3 years.
Results: All spinal cord regions are thinner in HAM/TSP (56 mm [standard deviation, 10], 59 [10], 23 [5]) than in HC (76 [7], 83 [8], 38 [4]) and AC (71 [7], 78 [9], 36 [7]). SPMS (62 [9], 66 [9], 32 [6]) and PPMS (65 [11], 68 [10], 35 [7]) have thinner cervical cords than HC and RRMS (73 [9], 77 [10], 37 [6]). Clinical disability scores (Expanded Disability Status Scale [p = 0.009] and Instituto de Pesquisas de Cananeia [p = 0.03]) and CD8 T-cell frequency (p = 0.04) correlate with T4 to T9 spinal cord cross-sectional area in HAM/TSP. Higher cerebrospinal fluid HTLV-1 proviral load (p = 0.01) was associated with thinner spinal cord cross-sectional area. Both HAM/TSP patients followed longitudinally showed thoracic thinning followed by cervical thinning.
Interpretation: Group average spinal cord cross-sectional area in HAM/TSP and progressive MS show spinal cord atrophy. We further hypothesize in HAM/TSP that is possible that neuroglial loss from a thoracic inflammatory process results in anterograde and retrograde degeneration of axons, leading to the temporal progression of thoracic to cervical atrophy described here. Ann Neurol 2017;82:719-728.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ana.25072 | DOI Listing |
Eur Spine J
September 2025
Consultant Neurosurgeon, Centre for Functional Neurosurgery, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK.
Stem Cell Rev Rep
September 2025
Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program (STEMM), Research Programs Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland.
Mutations in Delta Like Non-Canonical Notch Ligand 1 (DLK1), a paternally expressed imprinted gene, underlie central precocious puberty (CPP), yet the mechanism remains unclear. To test the hypothesis that DLK1 plays a role in gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neuron ontogeny, 75 base pairs were deleted in both alleles of DLK1 exon 3 with CRISPR-Cas9 in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). This line, exhibiting More than 80% loss of DLK1 protein, was differentiated into GnRH neurons by dual SMAD inhibition (dSMADi), FGF8 treatment and Notch inhibition, as previously described, however, it did not exhibit accelerated GNRH1 expression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPain
August 2025
Centre for Multimodal Sensorimotor and Pain Research, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
The thermal grill, in which innocuous warm and cool stimuli are interlaced, can produce a paradoxical burning pain sensation-the thermal grill illusion (TGI). Although the mechanisms underlying TGI remain unclear, prominent theories point to spinal dorsal horn integration of innocuous thermal inputs to elicit pain. It remains unknown whether the TGI activates peripheral nociceptors, or solely thermosensitive afferents that are integrated within the spinal cord to give rise to a painful experience.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurol Res
September 2025
Electrophysiology Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effects of repeated exposure to sevoflurane as an anesthetic agent during various developmental stages, namely neonatal, preadolescent, and adult, on behavioral, synaptic, and neuronal plasticity in male and female Wistar rats.
Methods: Rats were exposed to sevoflurane during three developmental stages: neonatal (PN7), pre-adolescence (PN28), and adulthood (PN90). Behavioral performance was evaluated with the Morris Water Maze.
Neurol Res
September 2025
Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Department of Surgery of Spine and Spinal Cord, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
Background: Immunotherapy holds significant yet underexplored potential for low-grade glioma (LGG) treatment. We therefore interrogated the role of Fanconi Anemia Complementation Group C (FANCC) as a novel immune checkpoint regulator given its spatial correlation with tumor microenvironments and clinical associations with immunosuppressive markers.
Objectives: FANCC is implicated in various tumor progressions; its role in LGG remains unexplored.