Project description:Background: Concurrent malignant brain tumors in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) constitute a rare but paradigmatic phenomenon for studying neuroimmunological mechanisms from both molecular and clinical perspectives. Methods: A multicenter cohort of 26 patients diagnosed with both primary brain tumors and multiple sclerosis was studied for disease localization, tumor treatment-related MS activity, and molecular characteristics specific for diffuse glioma in MS patients. Results: MS neither predisposes nor protects from the development of gliomas. Patients with glioblastoma WHO grade 4 without isocitratdehydrogenase (IDH) mutations have a longstanding history of MS, whereas patients diagnosed with IDH-mutant astrocytoma WHO grade 2 receive multiple sclerosis diagnosis mostly at the same time or later. Concurrent MS is associated with a lesser extent of tumor resection and a worse prognosis in IDH-mutant glioma patients (PFS 32 vs. 64 months, p=0.0206). When assessing tumor-intrinsic differences no distinct subgroup-defining methylation pattern is identified in gliomas of MS patients compared to other glioma samples. However, differential methylation of immune-related genetic loci including human leukocyte antigen locus on 6p21 and interleukin locus on 5q31 is found in MS patients vs. matched non-MS patients. In line, inflammatory disease activity increases in 42% of multiple sclerosis patients after brain tumor radiotherapy suggesting a susceptibility of multiple sclerosis brain tissue to pro-inflammatory stimuli such as ionizing radiation. Conclusions: Concurrent low-grade gliomas should be considered in multiple sclerosis patients with slowly progressive, expansive T2/FLAIR lesions. Our findings of typically reduced extent of resection in MS patients and increased MS activity after radiation may inform future treatment decisions.
Project description:Transcription profiling by array of whole blood from 7 healthy controls and 7 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who improved their fatigue status after a program of physical exercise
Project description:DNA methylation profiling of NeuN+sorted neuronal nuclei from post-mortem brain tissue of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients (n=10) (MS) and non-neurological controls (n=7) (non-MS). Genomic DNA was subjected to conventional BS-treatment as well as oxidative BS (oxBS)-conversion using TrueMethylTM 96 kit of CEGXTM (Cambridge Epigenetix Limited) to allow for subsequent detection of hydroxymethylation (5hmC = BS - oxBS).
Project description:Affymetrix GeneChip Human Gene 1.0 ST Array was applied to compare the expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) between healthy controls and multiple sclerosis patients(MS pt). It suggested that certain genes involved in apoptosis pathway have been changed regulated in PBMC from MS pt. Applying Affymetrix GeneChip Human Gene 1.0 ST Array and the mixed effects model for gene set analysis, we compared gene expression profiles between 8 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 4 healthy controls (HC).