MOLECULAR AND PATHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF SPINAL CORD EOSINOPHILIC LESIONS IN ATOPIC MYELITIS

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

1) Clinicolaboratory findings of atopic myelitis with regard to the coexistence of atopic disordersWe conducted a nation-wide survey of atopic myelitis in Japan and then collected 85 cases of this myelitis. Comparison of clinicolaboratory findings between atopic myelitis with and without atopic dermatitis revealed the characteristics of this myelitis as follows ; myelitic patients with atopic dermatitis showed (1)female predominance, (2)younger age of onset, (3)preferential involvement of the cervical cord and (4)less frequent occurrences of sphincter disturbance as comopared to those without atopic dermatitis.2) Immunopathological findings of eosinophilic myelitisFive biopsid cases of eosinophilic myelitis with atopy was collected from all over the country. Immunohistological staining of all biopsied specimens revealed the perivascular lymphocyte cuffings mainly consisted of T cells. In three cases further examined for T cell subsets, CD8 T cells were predominant in the perivascular a … More reas. Moreover, large amounts of eosinophilic cationic protein was found to be deposited in the spinal cord tissues in all cases examined.3) Class II MHC genotypes in atopic myelitisThe associations with DPB1*0501 and DRB1*1501 have been demonstrated in optico-spinal and conventional form of multiple sclerosis, respectively. However, we could not demonstrate either DPB1*0501 or DRB1*1501 association with topic myelitis.4) Treatment of atopic myelitisAlthough a treatment with corticosterods was shown to shorten the duration of acute events due to multiple sclerosis, this treatment was not effective in about two thirds of patients with atopic myelitis. About eighty percentages of patients with this myelitis were successfully treated with plasma exchange. Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy combined with plasma exchange was also useful.The results of this study revealed the presence of atopy-related myeltis in Japanese, in which eosinophils were considered to play a critical role for tissue destruction like other atopic disorders, yet the precise mechanism including the spinal cord inflammation remains to be elucidated. Less