Understanding CD20+ T cells in MS Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies have shown some efficacy in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Although CD20 is mostly expressed by B cells, a subpopulation of CD20+ T cells has been identified. The origin of CD20+ T cells and their role in autoimmune diseases are not fully elucidated. Now, Ochs et al. found that T cells can acquire...
#MSCOVID19
Neutralizing antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 in vaccinated people with multiple sclerosis.Gyang TV, Evans JP, Miller JS, Alcorn K, Peng J, Bell EH, Zeng C, Gumina R, Liu SL, Segal BM.Mult Scler J Exp Transl Clin. 2022 Mar 22;8(1):20552173221087357. doi: 10.1177/20552173221087357. Background: Patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) are often treated with disease modifying...
It Shouldn’t be like This (But it is)
Dominic Shadbolt () It Shouldn’t Be Like This (But It Is) Go with me on this… Someone finds a funny lump on their testicle or breast so they call the GP to book an appointment and get it checked out. Once the GP has checked it out and is suspicious, the person is catapulted onto a cancer pathway that presumes it is cancer until proven otherwise. This happened to me recently, and in the UK...
Q&A end of March
Drug Costs
This weekend I have to debate that anti-CD19 and and CD20 are all the same and am in for a bit of a kicking as I am debating against a clinician. Like a lamb to the slaughter I am never going to win this one, because turkeys don’t vote for Christmas! I should say no. Importantly, the organizers have thrown in a curve ball and brought in off-label antibodies into the question. Anti-CD20...
COVID stopped prescriptions
Williams T, Mishra R, Bharkhada B, Shields A, Dorsey R, Chataway J, Brownlee WJ. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prescription of disease-modifying therapy for multiple sclerosis in England: a nationwide study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2022 Mar 10:jnnp-2021-328340. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2021-328340. The provision of multiple sclerosis (MS) services in England was profoundly impacted by...
Going round in Circles. A new regulatory cell to control autoimmunity
We have always had regulatory cells that control immune responsiveness. After the CD8 suppressor came the anergic cells, then CD4 Th1 and Th2 cells, then CD4 T regulatory cells and B regulatory cells made a brief appearrence. However, it looks like we are coming full circle and CD8 are back. A few years ago we could see that CD52 depletion was blocking immunological tolerance formation and it...
#MSCOVID….Long lasting SARS-CoV-2 Antibody is not potent enough to protect everyone against COVID.
We have reported on this but here is evidence that anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody may not protect against symptomatic omicron. For people who have not made an antibody response because of treatment, you may have thought about taking antibody to build up protection. But we have said that most antibodies are not good enough to control omicron and this study supports that view. This is seen here with...
covid landscape changing
The landscape of COVID-19 is changing. The UK government seems to have decided that it is time for COVID-19 to be an endemic virus and have dropped all restrictions and it is now a free for all. Cases of COVID-19 are on the up but luckily deaths are not matching, this due to vaccination and the nature of the COVID-19 variant in play at the moment (Omicron). So at some time it is likely that COVID...
Clinical challenges – managing multiple sclerosis during War
By Filipa Serrazina There are 22,000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) living in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Community of people with Multiple Sclerosis (UCMS). Their lives and treatments, as well as the lives of others with long-term health needs, are currently a major challenge. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 3.5 million people...