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Comprehensive Autopsy Program for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis
09:41

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Published on: July 19, 2019

Spinal cord neuronal pathology in multiple sclerosis.

Christopher P Gilmore1, Gabriele C DeLuca, Lars Bö

  • 1Department of Neurology, Queens Medical Centre NHS Trust, Nottingham. chris.gilmore@nottingham.ac.uk

Brain Pathology (Zurich, Switzerland)
|January 28, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes neuronal loss and atrophy in the spinal cord, particularly affecting motoneurons and interneurons in the cervical and thoracic regions. This pathology is linked to gray matter plaques and occurs in both myelinated and demyelinated areas.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Neuropathology
  • Spinal Cord Research

Background:

  • Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system.
  • Neuronal damage, beyond demyelination, is increasingly recognized as a key contributor to MS pathology and disability.
  • Understanding spinal cord neuronal changes in MS is crucial for developing targeted therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate neuronal pathology, including number and size, in the spinal cord gray matter of multiple sclerosis patients.
  • To differentiate neuronal changes in myelinated versus demyelinated tissue within the spinal cord.
  • To correlate neuronal loss and atrophy with the presence of gray matter plaques in MS.

Main Methods:

  • Autopsy-derived spinal cord tissue from 38 MS cases and 21 controls.
  • Analysis of three spinal cord levels (upper cervical, upper thoracic, lumbar).
  • Luxol Fast Blue/Cresyl Violet staining and myelin protein immunohistochemistry to assess neuronal morphology and myelin status.

Main Results:

  • Reduced numbers of both motoneurons and interneurons in the upper cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord of MS patients compared to controls.
  • Significant reduction in interneuron cross-sectional area across all analyzed spinal cord levels in MS cases.
  • Neuronal loss was associated with gray matter plaques, while interneuron atrophy occurred in both myelinated and demyelinated regions.

Conclusions:

  • Spinal cord neuronal loss and atrophy are significant features of multiple sclerosis pathology.
  • Interneuron atrophy is widespread, affecting both myelinated and demyelinated areas, suggesting a broader impact beyond focal lesions.
  • These findings highlight the importance of addressing neuronal damage in the spinal cord for MS management.