Investigations in multiple sclerosis patients with coexistent autoimmune thyroid disease

对合并自身免疫性甲状腺疾病的多发性硬化症患者的调查

• 批准号: nhmrc : 351404
• 负责人: A/Pr Judith Greer
• 金额: $ 37.15万
• 依托单位: The University of Queensland
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2005-01-01 至 2007-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/investigations-multiple-sclerosis-thyroid-disease/76790
• 关键词: Investigations; multiple; sclerosis; patients; coexistent

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common chronic neurological disease affecting over one million people around the world. MS is generally thought to be an autoimmune disease, in which a person's own immune cells start to attack components of the brain and spinal cord. However, it is thought that the same components are not attacked in all patients, and that the pathway that leads to MS varies from one person to another. Therefore, in order to develop successful treatment strategies for MS, it will be necessary to look for patterns in the clinical symptoms and signs and other features of a person's MS that may give clues as to which particular pathway is leading to disease in that person. Some people who develop MS also develop other autoimmune diseases, or have these other diseases before they develop MS, or have other family members who have other autoimmune diseases. We have recently found that people who have the same combination of coexistent MS and autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) show similar clinical signs of MS, and tend to have damage (lesions) to the same areas of their nervous system. This suggests that these people may have the same underlying pathways leading to the development of MS, and that they may be a very informative group in which to look for immune or genetic abnormalities that might explain why they develop MS. This project will investigate people who have both MS and AITD and other members of their families to see if we can work out what the links are between having the same combination of autoimmune diseases and developing lesions in particular parts of the nervous system. It will provide information on the pathways that lead to the development of MS, and information obtained from this study may eventually be of use in developing more specific therapeutic agents, by tailoring therapies to specific people with MS, depending on the clinical and immunological profile of that person.

多发性硬化症(MS)是一种常见的慢性神经系统疾病，全世界有100多万人受到影响。多发性硬化症通常被认为是一种自身免疫性疾病，患者自身的免疫细胞开始攻击大脑和脊髓的组成部分。然而，人们认为，并不是所有患者都攻击相同的成分，导致多发性硬化症的途径因人而异。因此，为了开发成功的多发性硬化症的治疗策略，有必要寻找多发性硬化症的临床症状和体征以及其他特征的模式，这些模式可能给出线索，说明哪种特定的途径导致了该人的疾病。一些患有多发性硬化症的人还会患上其他自身免疫性疾病，或者在他们发展成多发性硬化症之前就已经有了这些其他疾病，或者有其他有其他自身免疫性疾病的家庭成员。我们最近发现，患有相同组合的多发性硬化症和自身免疫性甲状腺疾病(AITD)的人表现出类似的多发性硬化症的临床症状，并且往往对他们神经系统的相同区域有损害(损害)。这表明，这些人可能有相同的潜在途径导致多发性硬化症的发展，他们可能是一个非常有信息量的群体，在其中寻找免疫或遗传异常，这可能解释了他们为什么会患多发性硬化症。这个项目将调查同时患有多发性硬化症和AITD的人以及他们的其他家庭成员，看看我们是否可以找出患有相同的自身免疫性疾病组合和神经系统特定部分发生损害之间的联系。它将提供导致多发性硬化症发展的途径的信息，从这项研究中获得的信息最终可能用于开发更具体的治疗剂，根据特定多发性硬化症患者的临床和免疫学特征，为其量身定做治疗方案。