Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease, characterized by the presence of autoantibody (NMO-IgG) to Aquaporin-4 (AQP4). NMO-IgG identification supports NMO diagnosis and several diagnostic tests have been developed, but their sensitivity is too variable, and some assay show low sensitivity. This impairs correct diagnosis of NMO. By cell based assay (CBA) we here evalua...

OBJECTIVE Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoimmune disease of the CNS, which resembles multiple sclerosis (MS). NMO differs from MS, however, in the distribution and histology of neuroinflammatory lesions and shows a more aggressive clinical course. Moreover, the majority of NMO patients carry IgG autoantibodies against aquaporin-4 (AQP4), an astrocytic water channel. Antibodies against AQP4...

We reviewed and compared the neuropathology of multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica (NMO), neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) in Japan. Demyelinating lesions of MS are well circumscribed as compared with the lesions of NMO and NMOSD, which reveal variable, irregularly shaped and ill-defined borders that extend longitudinally ...

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is clinically characterized by severe optic neuritis and transverse myelitis. In Japan, NMO has been named optic-spinal multiple sclerosis (OSMS) and it has been thought to be a subtype of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, several clinical and laboratory findings suggest NMO or OSMS is distinct from MS. Recently, the disease-specific antibody (NMO-IgG) was found in th...

BACKGROUND Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a severe inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS in which a pathogenic role of anti-aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibodies has been suggested. Although AQP4 is expressed in human cortex, recent histologic studies have failed to find any evidence of cortical demyelination in NMO. OBJECTIVE To evaluate, in vivo, the occurrence of focal and diffuse cortical ...

Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) is an autoimmune condition that predominantly targets optic nerves and spinal cord. The discovery of NMO-IgG and its target aquaporin-4 (AQP4) as a marker of NMO allowed a better understanding of the disease and, recently, a new definition and diagnostic criteria for NMO spectrum diseases (NMOSD) have been proposed [1]. In a subgroup of patients with NMOSD, a parainfe...

The astrocytic aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channel is the target of pathogenic antibodies in a spectrum of relapsing autoimmune inflammatory central nervous system disorders of varying severity that is unified by detection of the serum biomarker neuromyelitis optica (NMO)-IgG. Neuromyelitis optica is the most severe of these disorders. The two major AQP4 isoforms, M1 and M23, have identical extrac...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an idiopathic mostly relapsing inflammatory disease with attacks on the optic nerves and spinal cord. Whether NMO is a separate disease or a subtype of classic multiple sclerosis (MS) is unclear. Clinically, CSF and MR imaging parameters and histopathologic data suggest that the normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) may be affected in MS but n...

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system causing optic neuritis and transverse myelitis. NMO typically has a worse prognosis than multiple sclerosis due the severity of the acute relapses which lead significant visual and motor impairment. Although the discovery of an NMO-IgG or aquaporin-4 antibody has led to greater understanding about the pathophys...