scholarly journals A Survey of Assistive Technologies for Assessment and Rehabilitation of Motor Impairments in Multiple Sclerosis

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akilesh Rajavenkatanarayanan ◽  
Varun Kanal ◽  
Konstantinos Tsiakas ◽  
Diane Calderon ◽  
Michalis Papakostas ◽  
...  

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that affects the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord. Although this condition cannot be cured, proper treatment of persons with MS (PwMS) can help control and manage the relapses of several symptoms. In this survey article, we focus on the different technologies used for the assessment and rehabilitation of motor impairments for PwMS. We discuss sensor-based and robot-based solutions for monitoring, assessment and rehabilitation. Among MS symptoms, fatigue is one of the most disabling features, since PwMS may need to put significantly more intense effort toward achieving simple everyday tasks. While fatigue is a common symptom across several neurological chronic diseases, it remains poorly understood for various reasons, including subjectivity and variability among individuals. To this end, we also investigate recent methods for fatigue detection and monitoring. The result of this survey will provide both clinicians and researchers with valuable information on assessment and rehabilitation technologies for PwMS, as well as providing insights regarding fatigue and its effect on performance in daily activities for PwMS.

2021 ◽  
pp. 109980042110500
Author(s):  
Pamela Newland ◽  
Yelyzaveta Basan ◽  
Ling Chen ◽  
Gregory Wu

Multiple sclerosis (MS), an inflammatory neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS), afflicts over one per thousand people in the United States. The pathology of MS typically involves lesions in several regions, including the brain and spinal cord. The manifestation of MS is variable and carries great potential to negatively impact quality of life (QOL). Evidence that inflammatory markers are related to depression in MS is accumulating. However, there are barriers in precisely identifying the biological mechanisms underlying depression and inflammation. Analysis of cytokines provides one promising approach for understanding the mechanisms that may contribute to MS symptoms. Methods: In this pilot study, we measured salivary levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1beta (β), and IL-10 in 24 veterans with MS. Descriptive statistics were reported and Pearson correlation coefficients were obtained between cytokines and depression. Results: The anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was significantly negatively associated with depression in veterans with MS (r = −0.47, p = .024). Conclusion: Cytokines may be useful for elucidating biological mechanisms associated with the depression and a measure for nurses caring for veterans with MS.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (15) ◽  
pp. 7802
Author(s):  
Hsiuying Wang

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system that affects the brain and spinal cord. There are several disease courses in MS including relapsing–remitting MS (RRMS), primary progressive MS (PPMS), and secondary progressive MS (SPMS). Up to 50% of MS patients experience depressive disorders. Major depression (MD) is a serious comorbidity of MS. Many dysfunctions including neuroinflammation, peripheral inflammation, gut dysbiosis, chronic oxidative and nitrosative stress, and neuroendocrine and mitochondrial abnormalities may contribute to the comorbidity between MS and MD. In addition to these actions, medical treatment and microRNA (miRNA) regulation may also be involved in the mechanisms of the comorbidity between MS and MD. In the study, I review many common miRNA biomarkers for both diseases. These common miRNA biomarkers may help further explore the association between MS and MD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Cao ◽  
Daniel W. Fisher ◽  
Guadalupe Rodriguez ◽  
Tian Yu ◽  
Hongxin Dong

Abstract Background The role of microglia in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis is becoming increasingly important, as activation of these cell types likely contributes to both pathological and protective processes associated with all phases of the disease. During early AD pathogenesis, one of the first areas of degeneration is the locus coeruleus (LC), which provides broad innervation of the central nervous system and facilitates norepinephrine (NE) transmission. Though the LC-NE is likely to influence microglial dynamics, it is unclear how these systems change with AD compared to otherwise healthy aging. Methods In this study, we evaluated the dynamic changes of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in the LC-NE system in the brain and spinal cord of APP/PS1 mice and aged WT mice using immunofluorescence and ELISA. Results Our results demonstrated increased expression of inflammatory cytokines and microglial activation observed in the cortex, hippocampus, and spinal cord of APP/PS1 compared to WT mice. LC-NE neuron and fiber loss as well as reduced norepinephrine transporter (NET) expression was more evident in APP/PS1 mice, although NE levels were similar between 12-month-old APP/PS1 and WT mice. Notably, the degree of microglial activation, LC-NE nerve fiber loss, and NET reduction in the brain and spinal cord were more severe in 12-month-old APP/PS1 compared to 12- and 24-month-old WT mice. Conclusion These results suggest that elevated neuroinflammation and microglial activation in the brain and spinal cord of APP/PS1 mice correlate with significant degeneration of the LC-NE system.


Author(s):  
Tetiana Nehrych ◽  
◽  
Maria Shorobura ◽  
Irina Hritsyna ◽  
Liliia Yukhimiv ◽  
...  

Primary acute measles encephalitis and acute postmeasles encephalitis are the most common neurological complications of measles. It is important to detect encephalitis, which develops a month or more after the manifestations of measles infection. These encephalitis are rare and occur mainly in people with immunodefi ciency. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease of the central nervous system for the treatment of which diseasemodifying therapy is used, namely monoclonal antibodies, that can lead to immunosuppression and immunodefi ciency. Nowadays, there is insuffi cient information about the course of postcortical encephalitis in patients with multiple sclerosis who are taking immunosuppressive drugs. The article presents data on the clinical classifi cation, diagnosis and treatment of measles encephalitis. A clinical case of measles inclusion body encephalitis in a thirty-threeyear-old patient with multiple sclerosis on the background of annual intake of monoclonal antibodies is presented. She also had viral-bacterial pneumonia and developed disseminated intravascular coagulation in the brain and lungs. These complications of measles infection led to the death of the person after a month and a half of intensive care. Thus, patients with multiple sclerosis who are taking drugs with immunosuppressive eff ects are among the risk group for measles inclusion body encephalitis. Measles inclusion body encephalitis in such patients can be severe, which complicates timely diagnosis, proper treatment and leads to death.


Author(s):  
Siddharthan Chandran ◽  
Alastair Compston

Clinicians suspect demyelination when episodes reflecting damage to white matter tracts within the central nervous system occur in young adults. The paucity of specific biological markers of discrete demyelinating syndromes places an emphasis on clinical phenotype—temporal and spatial patterns—when classifying demyelinating disorders. The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, the most common demyelinating disorder, becomes probable when these symptoms and signs recur, involving different parts of the brain and spinal cord. Other important demyelinating diseases include post-infectious neurological disorders (acute disseminated encephalomyelitis), demyelination resulting from metabolic derangements (central pontine myelinosis), and inherited leucodystrophies that may present in children or in adults. Accepting differences in mechanism, presentation, and treatment, two observations can usefully be made when classifying demyelinating disorders. These are the presence or absence of inflammation, and the extent of focal vs. diffuse demyelination. Multiple sclerosis is prototypic for the former, whereas dysmyelinating disorders, such as leucodystrophies are representative of the latter....


1930 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 889-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules Freund

1. Antibodies can be extracted from the brain and spinal cord of rabbits actively or passively immunized with typhoid bacilli. 2. The titers of the antibodies in the extracts of brain and cord depend upon the titer of the blood serum. In actively immunized rabbits the following numerical relationships exist between the titers of the serum and of these organ extracts: The ratio of the titer of the serum is to the titers of extract of brain and of the spinal cord about as 100 is to 0.8; the titer of the serum is to the titer of the cerebrospinal fluid as 100 is to 0.3. In passively immunized rabbits the titer of the serum is to the titer of brain and spinal-cord extract as 100 is to 0.7. 3. The antibodies recovered from the brain are not due to the presence of blood in it for perfusion of the brain does not reduce its antibody content appreciably. 4. Antibodies penetrate into the spinal fluid from the blood even in the absence of inflammation of the meninges. When the penetration is completed the following numerical relationship exists between the titer of the serum and that of the cerebrospinal fluid: 100 to 0.25. 5. The penetration into the cerebrospinal fluid of antibodies injected intravenously proceeds at a slow rate, being completed only several hours after the immune serum has been injected. The penetration of antibodies into the tissue of the brain occurs at a very rapid rate. It is completed within 15 minutes. 6. It is very unlikely that when the immune serum is injected intravenously the antibodies reach the brain tissue by way of the cerebrospinal fluid, for (1) the antibody titer of the cerebrospinal fluid is lower than that of the brain extract, and (2) antibodies penetrate faster into the tissue of the brain than into the cerebrospinal fluid.


2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay H. Rosenberg

Fatigue is the most common symptom of multiple sclerosis and is perhaps the symptom with the most devastating impact on patient well-being. It is reported by 75% to 95% of individuals, and more than half describe it as the worst symptom of the disease. The mechanisms underlying the development of fatigue remain unclear; although fatigue is believed to be a primary symptom of MS (ie, related to the demyelinating processes of the disease), fatigue may also occur secondarily to factors such as sleep disturbances, depression, or the effects of medications. The highly variable presentation of MS and the number of agents used for disease modification and symptom management make it important for potential contributors to MS-related fatigue to be identified and managed appropriately. If fatigue continues despite elimination or adequate management of secondary causes, pharmacologic therapy may be required. Several agents have been reported to improve MS-related fatigue; however, only three have been investigated in controlled trials. Amantadine has been studied in several small controlled trials, and appears to be effective in one quarter to one third of those with mild-to-moderate fatigue. It has shown efficacy on a number of scales, including the Visual Analog Scale for Fatigue (VAS-F) and the MS-Specific Fatigue Scale (MS-FS). The central nervous system (CNS) stimulant pemoline has demonstrated limited benefit in clinical trials and is often poorly tolerated, especially in higher doses. Recently, the wake-promoting agent modafinil has been shown to significantly improve MS-related fatigue on a number of commonly used fatigue assessment scales, including the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS).


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