Head Trauma and risk of Multiple Sclerosis
October 3, 2018
I have been asked by patients if their prior history of trauma brought on their MS. It was interesting to read this article on childhood head trauma and risk of subsequent diagnosis of multiple sclerosisIn this study, the authors systematically analyzed longitudinally collected data from the national Swedish registry to look for a possible association between head trauma in childhood and adolescence and risk of subsequent multiple sclerosis. This is the largest study yet that examined...
Sexual Dimorphism of the Blood Brain Barrier and its relevance to MS
September 25, 2018
MS, along with many other neurological diseases, is partially characterized by permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This barrier is comprised of blood vessels and associated cells that are responsible for tightly controlling precisely what nutrients, proteins, and other molecules are granted access to the privileged environment of the brain. While the role of the BBB in health and disease is widely accepted, we still have much to learn about how it typically protects the central...
Confirmation of Epsilon Toxin as a Possible Environmental Cause of MS
August 22, 2018
A major focus of the Vartanain lab is understanding how new MS lesions are formed. We believe that a bacterial toxin produced in the gut is responsible for new MS lesion formation. Specifically, we believe that the epsilon toxin produced from the bacteria Clostridium perfringens is an environmental cause of MS in people who are genetically-at-risk for the disease. In 2015 in the journal of PLOS One, we published a study that demonstrated that MS patients have increased exposure to both the...
