Dataset Information

High frequency of spinal involvement in patients with basal subarachnoid neurocysticercosis.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To determine the frequency of spinal neurocysticercosis (NCC) in patients with basal subarachnoid NCC compared with that in individuals with viable limited intraparenchymal NCC (?20 live cysts in the brain).

Methods

We performed a prospective observational case-control study of patients with NCC involving the basal cisterns or patients with only limited intraparenchymal NCC. All patients underwent MRI examinations of the brain and the entire spinal cord to assess spinal involvement.

Results

Twenty-seven patients with limited intraparenchymal NCC, and 28 patients with basal subarachnoid NCC were included in the study. Spinal involvement was found in 17 patients with basal subarachnoid NCC and in only one patient with limited intraparenchymal NCC (odds ratio 40.18, 95% confidence interval 4.74-340.31; p < 0.0001). All patients had extramedullary (intradural) spinal NCC, and the lumbosacral region was the most frequently involved (89%). Patients with extensive spinal NCC more frequently had ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement (7 of 7 vs 3 of 11; p = 0.004) and tended to have a longer duration of neurologic symptoms than those with regional involvement (72 months vs 24 months; p = 0.062).

Conclusions

The spinal subarachnoid space is commonly involved in patients with basal subarachnoid NCC, compared with those with only intraparenchymal brain cysts. Spinal cord involvement probably explains serious late complications including chronic meningitis and gait disorders that were described before the introduction of antiparasitic therapy. MRI of the spine should be performed in basal subarachnoid disease to document spinal involvement, prevent complications, and monitor for recurrent disease.

SUBMITTER: Callacondo D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3345784 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

High frequency of spinal involvement in patients with basal subarachnoid neurocysticercosis.

Callacondo D D Garcia H H HH Gonzales I I Escalante D D Nash T E TE

Neurology 20120418 18

<h4>Objective</h4>To determine the frequency of spinal neurocysticercosis (NCC) in patients with basal subarachnoid NCC compared with that in individuals with viable limited intraparenchymal NCC (≤20 live cysts in the brain).<h4>Methods</h4>We performed a prospective observational case-control study of patients with NCC involving the basal cisterns or patients with only limited intraparenchymal NCC. All patients underwent MRI examinations of the brain and the entire spinal cord to assess spinal ...[more]

PMID: 22517102

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Project description:BackgroundSubarachnoid neurocysticercosis (SANCC) represents the most severe and difficult to treat form of neurocysticercosis. The inflammatory response contributes significantly to the morbidity and mortality of the disease. This study sought to understand the nature and evolution of the inflammation associated with SANCC, and evaluate for predictors of time to cure.MethodsThere were 16 subjects with SANCC (basilar cistern, sylvian fissure, and/or spinal involvement) during active infection who had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytokine and chemokine profiling, of whom 9 had a second CSF sample at (or following) the time of cure. The relationships between clinical parameters and cytokine/chemokine results were assessed.ResultsCompared to pools of healthy donor CSF, those with active SANCC showed a significant (P < .05) increase in chemokines and cytokines associated with Type 1 immunity (interferon [IFN] γ, interleukin [IL] 12p70, C-X-C Motif Ligand 10 CXCL-10); Type 2 immunity (IL-10, IL-13); IFNα2; and the chemokines Macrophage inflammatory protein MIP-1α/CCL3, MIP-1ß/CCL4, and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor VEGF that appears to be locally (central nervous system [CNS]) produced. Compared to those with active disease, those with CSF taken at the time of cure showed a significant decrease in most of these chemokines and cytokines. Despite this, CSF from cured SANCC patients had levels of IL-10 (P = .039), CXCL-10 (P = .039), and IL-12p70 (P = .044) above those seen in CSF from uninfected subjects. High ratios of IL-12p70/IL-10 early in infections were associated with a shorter time to cure (r = -0.559; P = .027), and a high Taenia solium burden (by quantitative polymerase chain reaction) was associated with longer times to cure (r = 0.84; P = .003).ConclusionsSANCC is associated with a marked, CNS-localized cytokine-/chemokine-driven inflammatory response that largely decreases with curative therapy, though some analytes persisted above the normal range. The relative balance between proinflammatory and regulatory cytokines may be an important determinant for a cure in SANCC.

Project description:BackgroundThe ability of Taenia solium to modulate the immune system likely contributes to their longevity in the human host. We tested the hypothesis that the nature of the immune response is related to the location of parasite and clinical manifestations of infection.MethodologyPeripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained from untreated patients with neurocysticercosis (NCC), categorized as having parenchymal or subarachnoid infection by the presence of cysts exclusively within the parenchyma or in subarachnoid spaces of the brain, and from uninfected (control) individuals matched by age and gender to each patient. Using multiplex detection technology, sera from NCC patients and controls and cytokine production by PBMC after T. solium antigen (TsAg) stimulation were assayed for levels of inflammatory and regulatory cytokines. PBMC were phenotyped by flow cytometry ex vivo and following in vitro stimulation with TsAg.Principal findingsSera from patients with parenchymal NCC demonstrated significantly higher Th1 (IFN-?/IL-12) and Th2 (IL-4/IL-13) cytokine responses and trends towards higher levels of IL-1?/IL-8/IL-5 than those obtained from patients with subarachnoid NCC. Also higher in vitro antigen-driven TNF-? secretion was detected in PBMC supernatants from parenchymal than in subarachnoid NCC. In contrast, there was a significantly higher IL-10 response to TsAg stimulation in patients with subarachnoid NCC compared to parenchymal NCC. Although no differences in regulatory T cells (Tregs) frequencies were found ex vivo, there was a trend towards greater expansion of Tregs upon TsAg stimulation in subarachnoid than in parenchymal NCC when data were normalized for the corresponding controls.Conclusions/significanceT. solium infection of the subarachnoid space is associated with an enhanced regulatory immune response compared to infection in the parenchyma. The resulting anti-inflammatory milieu may represent a parasite strategy to maintain a permissive environment in the host or diminish inflammatory damage from the host immune response in the central nervous system.

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Dataset Information

High frequency of spinal involvement in patients with basal subarachnoid neurocysticercosis.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

High frequency of spinal involvement in patients with basal subarachnoid neurocysticercosis.

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