Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0014070 (encephalomyelitis)
 13,017 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Astrogliosis and microglial activation are associated with many neurodegenerative disorders including multiple sclerosis, its animal model experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, and Alzheimer's disease. To address the hypothesis that chronic astroglial or microglial activation could be contributing factors to neuronal death or injury, the immunostimulant lipopolysaccharide was infused into the hippocampus for 16 days using Alzet mini-osmotic pumps attached to a cannula. Placement of the cannula and infusion of vehicle for 16 days caused a hippocampal lesion with a volume of 0.5 +/- 0.1 mm3. Infusion of lipopolysaccharide at the dose of 2.0 micrograms/day produced a lesion of 4.9 +/- 1.3 mm3 (P < 0.01, Newman-Keuls), whereas, a lower dose of 0.2 microgram/day caused a lesion of 1.3 +/- 0.3 mm3 (P < 0.05). The lesion was defined as a focal necrotic reaction with fibrin deposits outlining an area at an early stage of encapsulation. No apparent neuronal loss was observed by Cresyl Violet staining outside the encapsulated necrotic area. There was a pronounced astrogliosis and an increase in activated macrophages throughout the lipopolysaccharide-infused hippocampus as determined by glial fibrillary acidic protein and ED-1 immunohistochemistry, respectively. Choline acetyltransferase and glutamic acid decarboxylase enzyme activities, used as functional measures of neuronal viability for cholinergic and GABAergic neurons, respectively, were unaffected in the hippocampus following a 16 day infusion of lipopolysaccharide at the doses of 0.2, 0.6 and 2.0 micrograms/day. In addition, unilateral infusion of lipopolysaccharide into the hippocampus did not affect 24 h locomotion when tested on day 13, body temperature or weight gain. Under the experimental conditions employed in the present study, chronic infusion of lipopolysaccharide into the hippocampus resulted in a dose-dependent focal necrotic lesion at the site of infusion. In tissue surrounding the encapsulated lesion, neurons were present among the reactive astrocytes and increased number of macrophages suggesting that astrocytes and macrophages can be activated without causing neuronal loss.
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PMID:Effects of chronic intrahippocampal infusion of lipopolysaccharide in the rat. 884 36

Nitric oxide (NO), produced by inducible NO synthase (iNOS), may play a role in inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). We show upregulation of iNOS mRNA in CNS of SJL/J mice with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). Using antibodies against mouse iNOS, GFAP (a marker for astrocytes) and Mac-1/CD11b (a marker for macrophages/microglia), both astrocytes and macrophages/microglia were identified as iNOS-expressing cells in situ in EAE lesions. GFAP + astrocytes not associated with inflammatory infiltrates were also found to express iNOS. Because microglia rather than astrocytes are implicated in demyelinating pathology, we propose that microglial NO may be cytopathic whereas astrocyte-derived NO may be protective in EAE.
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PMID:Astrocytes and microglia express inducible nitric oxide synthase in mice with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. 911 64

Recent studies on autoimmune encephalomyelitis and neuritis reveal that many different antigens of the central (CNS) and peripheral nervous system may become targets of an encephalitogenic T-cell response. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of T-cell specificity on the pathology of autoimmune-mediated inflammation in the nervous system. Autoimmune encephalomyelitis was induced by the adoptive transfer of CD4+ T-line cells specific for either myelin basic protein, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), myelin-associated glycoprotein, S100 beta, or glial fibrillary acidic protein. The severity of the inflammatory response was antigen- and dose-dependent. With the exception of MOG-specific T-line cells, all autoreactive T-cell lines induced inflammation in the CNS and peripheral nervous system. In the myelin-basic-protein-mediated model, the spinal cord was most severely affected with only minor inflammation in the forebrain. In contrast, both MOG- and myelin-associated-glycoprotein-specific T cells induced a far higher density of lesions in the periventricular and cerebellar white matter. S100 beta- and glial-fibrillary-acidic-protein-specific T cells mediated particularly severe inflammation in the gray matter. In addition to these topographic differences, antigen specificity also influenced the extent of both parenchymal inflammation and macrophage activation in the CNS. However, irrespective of the specificity or number of T cells transferred, the major neuropathologic correlate with disease severity was the absolute number of activated macrophages recruited into the CNS parenchyma (r = 0.9; p < 0.0001). This study suggests that differences in lesion distribution in multiple sclerosis patients may reflect differences in the antigen specificity of an encephalitogenic T-cell response.
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PMID:Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: the antigen specificity of T lymphocytes determines the topography of lesions in the central and peripheral nervous system. 912 Nov 18

Insights into the role of the astrocyte intermediate filament protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), have only recently emerged with reports on subtle abnormalities in GFAP-deficient mice, including the documentation of defective long-term maintenance of central nervous system myelination. Here, we extend these observations by examining the astroglial response in GFAP-/- mice with autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model for multiple sclerosis. Clinically, the monophasic disease was more severe in GFAP-/- mice than in wild-type littermates despite increased remyelination in the former. More in keeping with the clinical course was the observation of an infiltrative EAE lesion in GFAP-/- mice. GFAP-/- astrocytes had a reduced cytoarchitectural stability as evidenced by less abundant and irregularly spaced hemidesmosomes. The blunt GFAP-/- astrocyte processes possessed intermediate filaments consisting mainly of vimentin, though to a lesser degree than in the wild-type. In contrast, in wild-type littermates, GFAP was most abundant and nestin occurred at lower levels. Taken together, the present study introduces the novel concepts that GFAP plays an important role in the control of clinical disease associated with formation of a clearly defined edge to the EAE lesion and that GFAP is operative in the regulation of the intermediate filament components in reactive fibrillary astrogliosis.
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PMID:Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice lacking glial fibrillary acidic protein is characterized by a more severe clinical course and an infiltrative central nervous system lesion. 942 42

The alterations in oligodendrocytes in myelin basic protein-induced acute experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in the Lewis rat were studied using the technique of pre-embedding immunolabelling with the Rip monoclonal antibody, which specifically labels the cytoplasm of the cell bodies and processes of oligodendrocytes. In spinal cord sections of untreated and dexamethasone-treated rats with EAE, we found that apoptotic lymphocytes were phagocytosed by Rip-positive oligodendrocytes as well as by CD11b/c-positive macrophages/microglia and by astrocytes expressing glial fibrillary acidic protein. Morphologically normal lymphocytes were also internalised by these cell type, a phenomenon known as emperipolesis. We suggest that this phenomenon represents the phagocytosis of lymphocytes that have undergone the plasma membrane alterations of apoptosis without yet manifesting the nuclear condensation of apoptosis. We also found an increase in the number of clusters of two to four oligodendrocytes, mainly in the grey matter, suggesting proliferation of cells of the oligodendrocyte lineage.
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PMID:Phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by oligodendrocytes in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. 945 20

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) whereas the contribution of the major endogenous counter-regulators of MMPs, the tissue inhibitors of the matrix metalloproteinases (TIMPs), is unclear. We investigated the temporal and spatial expression patterns in the CNS of nine MMP genes and three TIMP genes in normal mice, in mice with EAE, and in transgenic mice with astrocyte (glial fibrillary acidic protein)-targeted expression of the cytokines interleukin-3 (macrophage/microglial demyelinating disease), interleukin-6 (neurodegenerative disease), or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (lymphocytic encephalomyelitis). In normal mice, the MMPs MT1-MMP, stromelysin 3, and gelatinase B were expressed at low levels, whereas high expression of TIMP-2 and TIMP-3 was observed predominantly in neurons and in the choroid plexus, respectively. In EAE and the transgenic mice, significant induction or up-regulation of various MMP genes was observed, the pattern of which was somewhat specific for each of the models, and there was significant induction of TIMP-1. In situ localization experiments revealed a dichotomy between MMP expression that was restricted to leukocytes and possibly microglia within inflammatory lesions and TIMP-1 expression that was observed in activated astrocytes circumscribing the lesions. These findings demonstrate specific spatial and temporal regulation in the expression of individual MMP and TIMP genes in the CNS in normal and inflammatory states. The distinct localization of TIMP-1 and MMP expression during CNS inflammation suggests a dynamic state in which the interplay between these gene products may determine both the size and resolution of the destructive inflammatory focus.
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PMID:Differential expression of matrix metalloproteinase and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase genes in the mouse central nervous system in normal and inflammatory states. 950 15

Since calcium activated neutral proteinase (calpain) is present in the central nervous system (CNS) and degrades myelin proteins, this endopeptidase has been suggested to play a role in myelin destruction in demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). In the present study, calpain immunocytochemical expression was examined in Lewis rats with acute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for MS and optic neuritis. To identify cells expressing calpain, we labeled rat optic nerve sections for calpain with a polyclonal myelin calpain antibody and with monoclonal antibodies for glial (GFAP, OX42) and inflammatory (CD2, ED2, ED1, IFN-gamma) cell-specific markers. The results showed increased calpain expression in microglia (OX42) and infiltrating macrophages (ED1,2) in EAE compared to normal controls. Astrocytes constitutively expressed calpain in controls and acute EAE. Reactive astrocytes in EAE located in or near inflammatory foci, exhibited markedly increased calpain expression. Most T cells in acute EAE showed low level calpain expression while activated IFN-gamma-producing lymphocytes in inflammatory foci exhibited elevated levels of calpain expression. Thus, our results demonstrate increased calpain expression (at transcriptional and/or translational levels) in a rat model of optic neuritis. A role for calpain in myelin destruction during optic neuritis may be relevant to the pathogenesis of this disorder.
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PMID:Increased calpain expression in experimental demyelinating optic neuritis: an immunocytochemical study. 951 58

In demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), myelin membrane structure is destabilized as myelin proteins are lost. Calcium-activated neutral proteinase (calpain) is believed to participate in myelin protein degradation because known calpain substrates [myelin basic protein (MBP); myelin-associated glycoprotein] are degraded in this disease. In exploring the role of calpain in demyelinating diseases, we examined calpain expression in Lewis rats with acute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for MS. Using double-immunofluorescence labeling to identify cells expressing calpain, we labeled rat spinal cord sections for calpain with a polyclonal millicalpain antibody and with mAbs for glial (GFAP, OX42, GalC) and inflammatory (CD2, ED2, interferon gamma) cell-specific markers. Calpain expression was increased in activated microglia (OX42) and infiltrating macrophages (ED2) compared with controls. Oligodendrocytes (galactocerebroside) and astrocytes (GFAP) had constitutive calpain expression in normal spinal cords whereas reactive astrocytes in spinal cords from animals with EAE exhibited markedly increased calpain levels compared with astrocytes in adjuvant controls. Oligodendrocytes in spinal cords from rats with EAE expressed increased calpain levels in some areas, but overall the increases in calpain expression were small. Most T cells in grade 4 EAE expressed low levels of calpain, but interferon gamma-positive cells demonstrated markedly increased calpain expression. These findings suggest that increased levels of calpain in activated glial and inflammatory cells in EAE may contribute to myelin destruction in demyelinating diseases such as MS.
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PMID:Increased calpain expression in activated glial and inflammatory cells in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. 957 59

Neuroradiologic, neuropathologic and immunohistochemical features are reported in a young man with a impairment of the central nervous system mimicking an acute diffuse encephalomyelitis. A white male, 17 years old, healthy till 4 months before, when developed a right hemiparesis and after 2 months a bilateral hemiparesis with a progressive impairment of several cranial nerves. Magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple lesions without a mass effect that suggested myelin loss. He remained unconscious for almost one month before dying of pneumonia. The neuropathologic examination showed a heavy brain (1505 g) with herniations and a large right midbrain. There were several soft and pink areas mainly at the right midbrain, left cerebellum and in the white matter of the left cerebral hemisphere. The histopathologic sections showed diffuse blastomatous proliferation without total replacement or destruction of the original tissue. The tumor cells had astrocytic, oligodendrocytic and spongioblastic phenotypes, some of them with a GFAP-positive reactivity. There were focal anaplastic changes. The diagnosis of "gliomatosis cerebri" was only possible by the autopsy.
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PMID:"Gliomatosis cerebri" simulating an acute diffuse encephalomyelitis. Case report. 962 70

We examined the phenotype and function of cells infiltrating the central nervous system (CNS) of mice persistently infected with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) for evidence that viral antigens are presented to T cells within the CNS. Expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II in the spinal cords of mice infected with TMEV was found predominantly on macrophages in demyelinating lesions. The distribution of I-As staining overlapped that of the macrophage marker sialoadhesin in frozen sections and coincided with that of another macrophage/microglial cell marker, F4/80, by flow cytometry. In contrast, astrocytes, identified by staining with glial fibrillary acidic protein, rarely expressed detectable MHC class II, although fibrillary gliosis associated with the CNS damage was clearly seen. The costimulatory molecules B7-1 and B7-2 were expressed on the surface of most MHC class II-positive cells in the CNS, at levels exceeding those found in the spleens of the infected mice. Immunohistochemistry revealed that B7-1 and B7-2 colocalized on large F4/80(+) macrophages/microglia in the spinal cord lesions. In contrast, CD4(+) T cells in the lesions expressed mainly B7-2, which was found primarily on blastoid CD4(+) T cells located toward the periphery of the lesions. Most interestingly, plastic-adherent cells freshly isolated from the spinal cords of TMEV-infected mice were able to process and present TMEV and horse myoglobin to antigen-specific T-cell lines. Furthermore, these cells were able to activate a TMEV epitope-specific T-cell line in the absence of added antigen, providing conclusive evidence for the endogenous processing and presentation of virus epitopes within the CNS of persistently infected SJL/J mice.
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PMID:Characterization of and functional antigen presentation by central nervous system mononuclear cells from mice infected with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus. 973 12


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