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...
What is the best diet for patients with MS?
August 7, 2018
Diet is important for everyone but especially for patients with multiple sclerosis. I am always asked about diet by my patients.The best study recently is reported in Neurology this year. Diet quality is associated with disability and symptom severity in multiple sclerosis. Kathryn Fitzgerald, ScD is first author.They used the North American Research Committee (NARCOMS) registry to have large data base of patients. Almost 7000 patients were analyzed. Patients filled out patient derived disease...
