Neurotransmitter defect may trigger autoimmune disease

A potentially blinding neurological disorder, often confused with multiple sclerosis (MS), has now become a little less mysterious. A new study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, may have uncovered the cause of Devic’s disease. Their new study, which will appear online on October 6th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, could result in new treatment options for this devastating disease.

Devic’s disease, also known as neuromyelitis optica (NMO), results in MS-like demyelinating lesions along the optic nerves and spine. Affected individuals often experience rapid visual loss, paralysis, and loss of leg, bladder, and bowel sensation. Some lose their sight permanently. Unlike MS, Devic’s disease can be diagnosed by the presence of a specific self-attacking immune protein—an autoantibody referred to as NMO-IgG—in the blood. Until now, however, clinicians didn’t know how that protein damaged nerves and contributed to disease symptoms.

The Mayo team, lead by Dr. Vanda Lennon, now show that NMO-IgG sets off a chain of events that leads to a toxic build-up of a neurotransmitter called glutamate. NMO-IgG binds to a protein that normally sops up excess glutamate from the space between brain cells. When NMO-IgG is around, this sponge-like action is blocked, allowing glutamate to accumulate. And too much glutamate can kill the cells that produce myelin—the protein that coats and protects neurons. The authors suggest that glutamate-induced damage to nerve cells and their insulating myelin coats might account for the neurological symptoms associated with Devic’s disease.

If the groups’ results—generated using nerve cell cultures—are confirmed in vivo, drug development could be very straightforward. Therapeutic trials for glutamate blockers, created to treat other neurodegenerative diseases like Lou Gehrig’s disease (or ALS), are already underway.

###

Contact: Amy Maxmen
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
212-327-8393
Rockefeller University Press

Print Version
Tell-a-Friend comments powered by Disqus

RELATED ARTICLES:

Large doses of antioxidants may be harmful to neuronal stem cells   Drug prevents passage of HBV during pregnancy   Designing better medical implants   Baclofen shows promise in patients with alcohol-induced liver disease   Repairing the cerebral cortex: It can be done   UTSW researchers identify a therapeutic strategy that may treat a childhood neurological disorder   To advance care for patients with brain metastases: Reject five myths   Study Explains How High Blood Pressure in Middle Age Affects Memory in Old Age   Scientists discover potential new target for cancer immunotherapy   Study reveals workings of working memory   Family problems experienced in childhood and adolescence affect brain development   Immune system ‘overdrive’ in pregnant women puts male child at risk for brain disorders