OBJECTIVE To evaluate the degree of blood-brain barrier disruption in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and to clarify whether the levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM-1) in patients with NMO can be useful biomarkers for blood-brain barrier breakdown. DESIGN Descriptive historical cohort. SETTING Department...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO) are inflammatory demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). Various genetic and environmental factors have been identified to contribute to etiology of MS and NMO. Aquaporin 4 (AQP4), is the most abundant water channel in CNS. AQP4 is expressed in astrocytes of the brain, spinal cord, optic nerve and supportive cells in se...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO) are presumed to be an autoimmune disease in the central nervous system (CNS). Although lipids are most abundant components in the nervous system, it has been believed that cellular and/or humoral immunity to various myelin proteins causes these neuroinflammatory diseases. Recent research advances enable us to study lipids in the membranes a...

BACKGROUND Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a devastating inflammatory disorder of the optic nerves and spinal cord characterized by frequently recurring exacerbations of humoral inflammation. NMO is associated with the highly specific NMO-IgG biomarker, an antibody that binds the aquaporin-4 water channel. Aquaporin-4 is present on glial endfeet in the central nervous system (CNS). In humans, the...

Introduction: Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) is a rare inflammatory disease of the central nervous system which generally affecting the spinal cord and optic nerve. Damage to the optic nerve can result in the patient's dim vision or even blindness, while the spinal cord damage may lead to sensory and motor paralysis and the weakness of the lower limbs in the patient. Magnetic Reson...

Background: The effects of interferon1b (IFN1b ) administration in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients have been confirmed, however, those in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) patients have not been shown. In this study, we assessed the effects of IFN1b treatment on disease exacerbation and disability progression in MS or NMO patients. Methods: We reviewed a series of 104 consecutive patients with relaps...

PURPOSE Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a rare autoimmune condition characterised by acute relapses of optic neuritis and extensive transverse myelitis. The aim of this qualitative study was to develop an improved understanding of the experiences of people living with NMO. METHOD Fifteen participants completed a semi-structured interview and data were interpreted using a constant comparative me...

Objective: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory and demyelinating disease of central nervous system that preferentially affects the optic nerve and spinal cord. NMO has long been thought of as a rare and severe variant of multiple sclerosis (MS), however, clinical, immunological and pathological characteristics that distinguish it from MS are now recognized [1]. As NMO involves recurre...

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease that principally targets the optic nerves and spinal cord and often leads to severe disability and occasionally life threatening respiratory failure. Although its clinical manifestations overlap with those of multiple sclerosis (MS), in established cases these two conditions can be distinguished on the basis of clinical, radiol...

The comparative clinical and demographic features of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) are not well known. In this review we analyzed peer-reviewed publications for incidence and prevalence, clinical phenotypes, and demographic features of NMO. Population-based studies from Europe, South East and Southern Asia, the Caribbean, and Cuba suggest that the incidence and prevalence of NMO ranges from 0.05-0...