The Production of Antibody by Invading B Cells Is Required for the Clearance of Rabies Virus from the Central Nervous System

Every year over 50,000 people die from rabies worldwide, primarily due to the poor availability of rabies vaccine in developing countries. However, even when vaccines are available, human deaths from rabies occur if exposure to the causative virus is not recognized and vaccination is not sought in time. This is because rabies virus immunity induced by the natural infection or current vaccines is generally not effective at removing disease-causing rabies virus from brain tissues. Our studies provide insight into why this is the case and how vaccination can be changed so that the immune response can clear the virus from brain tissues. We show that the type of immune response induced by a live-attenuated rabies virus vaccine may be the key. In animal models, live-attenuated rabies virus vaccines are effective at delivering the immune cells capable of clearing the virus into CNS tissues and promote recovery from a rabies virus infection that has spread to the brain while conventional vaccines based on killed rabies virus do not. The production of rabies-specific antibody by B cells that invade the CNS tissues is important for complete elimination of the virus. We hypothesize that similar mechanisms may promote rabies virus clearance from individuals who are diagnosed after the virus has reached, but not extensively spread, through the CNS

Berberine Attenuates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in C57 BL/6 Mice

Berberine, an isoquinoline derivative alkaloid, has a wide range of pharmacological properties and is considered to have anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. However, there are no reports about the effects and mechanisms of berberine in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an established model of multiple sclerosis (MS).Female C57 BL/6 mice immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35–55 amino acid peptide were treated with berberine at the day of disease onset and medication was administered daily until mice were sacrificed. Blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability and the alteration of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2, 72 kDa) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9, 92 kDa) in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of EAE mice were detected by quantitative measurement for Evan's blue (EB) content, Western blot and gelatin zymography respectively. The results showed that berberine attenuated clinical and pathological parameters of EAE, reduced the permeability of BBB, inhibited the activity and expression of MMP-9 but not MMP-2 in the CSF and brain of EAE mice.These findings suggest that berberine is effective to attenuate the clinical severity of EAE in C57 BL/6 mice by reducing the permeability of BBB, decreasing the expression and activity of MMP-9, and decreasing the inflammatory infiltration. We think that berberine might be a potential therapeutic agent for MS

Relapse patterns in NMOSD: evidence for earlier occurrence of optic neuritis and possible seasonal variation

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) show overlap in their clinical features. We performed an analysis of relapses with the aim of determining differences between the two conditions. Cases of NMOSD and age- and sex-matched MS controls were collected from across Australia and New Zealand. Demographic and clinical information, including relapse histories, were recorded using a standard questionnaire. There were 75 cases of NMOSD and 101 MS controls. There were 328 relapses in the NMOSD cases and 375 in MS controls. Spinal cord and optic neuritis attacks were the most common relapses in both NMOSD and MS. Optic neuritis (p P = 0.002) were more common in NMOSD and other brainstem attacks were more common in MS (p P = 0.065). Optic neuritis and transverse myelitis are the most common types of relapse in NMOSD and MS. Optic neuritis tends to occur more frequently in NMOSD prior to the age of 30, with transverse myelitis being more common thereafter. Relapses in NMOSD were more severe. A seasonal bias for relapses in spring-summer may exist in NMOSD

Data characterizing the ZMIZ1 molecular phenotype of multiple sclerosis.

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "The autoimmune risk gene ZMIZ1 is a vitamin D responsived marker of a molecular phenotype of multiple sclerosis" Fewings et al. (2017) [1]. Here we identify the set of genes correlated with ZMIZ1 in multiple cohorts, provide phenotypic details on those cohorts, and identify the genes negatively correlated with ZMIZ1 and the cells predominantly expressing those genes. We identify the metabolic pathways in which the molecular phenotype genes are over-represented. Finally, we present the flow cytometry gating strategy we have used to identify the immune cells from blood which are producing ZMIZ1 and RPS6