Infiltration of leukocytes is a major pathological event in white matter lesion formation in the brain of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. In grey matter lesions, less infiltration of these cells occur, but microglial activation is present. Thus far, the interaction of β-integrins with extracellular matrix proteins, e.g. fibronectin, is considered to be of importance for the influx of immune c...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Blood-brain barrier dysfunction may be an early phenomenon in the development of the small vessel disease, which underlies white matter lesions. Because vitamin B12 plays a role in maintaining the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, we studied serum vitamin B12 level in relation to such lesions. METHODS In 124 patients with first lacunar stroke, we measured serum vita...

Diffuse changes in white matter resulting from cerebral microvascular disease contribute to cognitive impairment (Jokinen et al., 2011), declines in global functionality (Inzitari et al., 2009), and even death (Debette and Markus, 2010). Twenty years ago, estimations of the clinical incidence of cerebral microvascular disease approached 11 million per year in the US alone (Leary and Saver, 2003...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Chronic abuse of toluene by inhalation causes variable white matter changes and thalamic hypointensity on T2-weighted MR images. The purpose of our study was to assess cranial MR findings in a large series of patients who chronically abuse toluene-containing solvents to investigate the factors causing the qualitative variability of white matter changes and thalamic hypoin...