Unrelated Blogger Comments July


Unrelated BLOGGER Comments

Sometimes you want to say something that is unrelated to the threads. This is a spot for you. 

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Tony Fonda said...
How about that ! An immunosuppressant with a surprising side effect:

http://www.gizmag.com/rapamycin-enhances-mice-cognition/23152/

Has it been tested on MSers yet?
Gavin Giovannoni said...
Re: "How about that ! An immunosuppressant with a surprising side effect: http://www.gizmag.com/rapamycin-enhances-mice-cognition/23152/"

Yes; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00095329?term=multiple+sclerosis+sirolimus&rank=1

Not sure of the results; I assume they were not very positive otherwise we would have heard by now.
Tony Fonda said...
I left a message to Dr. Khoury and will come back to you if/when she reaches out.
Iain O said...
People keep on saying that eating cheese is bad for those of us with MS.
Yet we keep on testing on mice.
Mice like cheese.
Just saying....
These things keep me up at night.
MouseDoctor2 said...
Actually, mice don't really like cheese, they only eat it because they're too polite to refuse.
Anonymous said...
What do you think about this new perspective of the phisiopathology of the MS disease?
http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/v12/n6/full/ni.2027.html#/access

(i cannot access to the entire article)
MouseDoctor said...
What do you think about this new perspective of the phisiopathology of the MS disease?

The study from 2010 I'll have a look
Anonymous said...
In Nov there was a discussion here about a paralysed hand-cyclist who had a sudden miraculous recovery
(in the comments after http://multiple-sclerosis-research.blogspot.com/2011/11/myelin-imaging.html )

Now there are doubts about whether she was paralysed at all when she won the Paralympic medals
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12229/International-Paralympic-Committee-investigating-Van-der-Vorsts-claimed-paralysis.aspx

if something is too good to be true ...
MouseDoctor said...
I can not comment on the case in point

but lets hope there are not too many cheats in the 2012 olympic and paralympic games....we are the Olympic Hospital.
Gavin Giovannoni said...
Re: "if something is too good to be true ..."

She may not have been a cheat. There is a condition called a somatization disorder; you truly believe you have a problem when you don't.
Frà said...
Good morning,
I couldn't find much in the blog about this issue(maybe I'm not so good in searching), but I would like to know how happens that someone JC virus seropositive, become seronegative during Natalizumab therapy (see 22 May 2012 post,"Research: JC Virus seropositivity in MSers"). I suppose it's not related to Natalizumab specifically, can you give me some information about that, and if possible some research link?
Thank You
Francesco
Gavin Giovannoni said...
Re: "I would like to know how happens that someone JC virus seropositive, become seronegative during Natalizumab therapy."

The most common reason is analytical, i.e. the first test is a false positive and the second test is correct. Or the first test is correct and the second test is a false negative. These issues relate to the so called positive and negative predictive value of the assay and are related to the sensitivity and specificity of the assay. These flip-flop results typically occur at the lower end of the assay, but can occur is some assays when the titres or levels of antibody are very high.

Biologically, a positive titre can disappear with immune senescence. As the immune system ages it loses its memory and the antibodies to a virus disappear. This is unlikely to occur with JCV as we believe that the virus persists in the body and therefore it continues to stimulate the immune system which overcomes this failing memory problem. I say believe as we don't know if JCV persistence occurs in everyone; it is feasible that some people clear the virus.
Francesco said...
I see. As a matter of fact, I couldn't find any statistic about numbers of people getting virus clear. Hope here in Italy hospital get this new STRATIFY DxSelect by Biogen, just to be sure of the test.
Thanks for the prompt reply.

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