#MSBlog: Reversible cognitive impairment in MSers is associated with inflammation!
Mori et al. Early treatment with high-dose interferon beta-1areverses cognitive and cortical plasticity deficits inmultiple sclerosis. Funct Neurol. 2012 27:163-8.
Background: Acute inflammation is associated with cognitive deficits and alterations of cortical plasticity in MS.
Objective: To test whether early treatment with high-dose interferon (IFN) beta-1a, known to reduce inflammatory activity, improves cortical function and cognitive deficits in MS.
Methods: Eighty treatment-naïve relapsing-remitting MSers received IFN beta-1a (44 mcg) subcutaneously three times per week. Cognitive performance and cortical plasticity were measured through the paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT) and intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) before and up to two years after IFN beta-1a initiation.
Results: Before treatment, MSers with gadolinium-enhancing lesions (Gd+ve) on MRI performed worse on the PASAT, and showed lower iTBS-induced plasticity, compared with Gd-ve MSers. Six months after treatment initiation both PASAT and iTBS-induced plasticity improved in Gd+ve and remained stable in Gd-ve MSers.
Conclusion: These results suggest that cognitive and synaptic plasticity deficits may be rescued during high-dose IFN beta-1a treatment in newly-diagnosed RRMSers with Gd+ve lesions.
"As always this study's findings will need to be reproduced. Despite this the findings in this study are very, very interesting."
"These findings would support the concept of a cognitive relapse, i.e. an attack when the predominant symptoms is a drop off in cognition (memory, calculation, visuospatial function etc.). I have seen several MSers presenting with cognitive relapses. The latter are presumably due to lesions occurring in a specific location. Another factor that may seem more likely is that inflammation produces soluble mediators, or cytokines, that affect the function of neurones more globally to reduce cognition and that when the inflammation is resolved the global neuronal dysfunction recovers and the cognition returns to normal."
"It may be worth exploring these phenomenon in more detail."
02 Jan 2013
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