[Multiple sclerosis: clinical and laboratorial correlation]

Study of oligoclonal bands restricted to the cerebrospinal fluid in multiple sclerosis patients in the city of São Paulo

The frequency of oligoclonal bands (OCB) restricted to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) varies widely in different populations. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of these OCB in a group of MS patients in the city of São Paulo. Techniques used to detect OCB consisted of isoelectric focusing followed by immunoblotting. Oligoclonal bands were found in 49 (54.4%) out of 90 patients with clinically definite MS; in (31.2%) of the 16 patients with clinically isolated syndrome; in 7 (17.9%) of 39 patients with inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system (IDCNS), and in none of the individuals with no neurological condition (control group). The specificity of the method was 100% when compared to the control group and 82.1% when compared to the IDCNS group. These results suggest that the frequency of CSF OCB is much lower in Brazilian MS patients from São Paulo city than that reported in MS series from Caucasian populations.

Esclerose múltipla: estudo de pacientes com a forma surto-remissão cadastrados na Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de Minas Gerais

Esclerose múltipla é uma doença crônica, inflamatória e desmielinizante do sistema nervoso central. O tratamento preconizado para a forma surto-remissão é com imunomoduladores, fornecidos em Belo Horizonte pela Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de Minas Gerais (SES/MG). Analisamos os dados de 283 pacientes inscritos no Programa de Medicamentos Excepcionais (imunomoduladores) da SES/MG no período de maio a outubro de 2004. Houve predomínio do sexo feminino (3,7:1) e a idade média dos pacientes foi 38,4±10,7 anos, com as primeiras manifestações clínicas ocorridas aos 29,7±10,2 anos. Os sintomas iniciais foram: sensitivos (46,4%), visuais (33,1%), síndrome de tronco cerebral/cerebelo (30,1%) e motores (25,9%). Os sintomas observados em surtos subseqüentes foram motores (22,3%), síndromes de tronco cerebral/cerebelo (18,9%), visuais (18,9%) e sensitivos (9,6%). Em 234 RM de encéfalo e 109 RM da medula espinhal existiam lesões desmielinizantes em 97,4% e 85,3% respectivamente. Comparamos nossos achados com outras séries descritas na literatura brasileira.

Cytokines and intrathecal IgG synthesis in multiple sclerosis patients during clinical remission

Cytokines and intrathecal IgG synthesis were determined in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and sera to evaluate inflammatory activity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients during clinical remission. Although the disease was stable, there had been a significant increase of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNFalpha and IFNgamma in the CSF and serum, with no significant changes of IL12 and IL10 production. The changes in the cytokine production patterns were associated with an increase of leukocytes in the CSF, as well as the presence of oligoclonal bands suggesting intrathecal IgG synthesis. These results suggest that even when the disease is clinically silent, one can observe inflammatory activity in these MS patients.