produced by the immune system. Unlike antibodies of healthy persons which attack invading disease organisms, an autoantibody attacks normal body constituents by a poorly understood error in immune function. This new autoantibody (named NMO-IgG) was discovered in the Mayo Clinic Neuroimmunology Laboratory in the course of analyzing 85,000 blood samples. However, the significance of the antibody was not initially appreciated. Based on a study of one group of patients with clinically recognized NMO, the researchers discovered that this "unclassified" antibody was common among these patients and therefore useful as a diagnostic biomarker for NMO.
The results show that 73 percent of a group of North American patients with NMO had the biomarker. Of 22 patients with similar symptoms, but who ultimately were shown to have MS rather than NMO, only two (9 percent) had tested positive for NMO-IgG. Statistically, this means the new test is sufficiently powerful to discriminate between patients who present with similar symptoms, but whose subsequent disease course shows that they have different disorders, MS or NMO. It is the first diagnostic tool ever to do this. Results were similar among the Japanese patients studied.
In addition to Dr. Lennon, the Mayo Clinic research team included Thomas Kryzer, Claudia Lucchinetti, M.D., Sean Pittock, M.D., Dean Wingerchuk, M.D., and Brian Weinshenker, M.D. Collaborators from Tohoku University School of Medicine included Kazuo Fujihara, M.D., and Ichiro Nakashima, M.D. Their work was supported by the Mayo Foundation.
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14-Dec-2004
Page: 1 2 3 Related medicine news :1.
First head-to-head study to compare lidoderm patch and Celebrex in treating pain2.
First UK cases of previously rare disease reported in gay men3.
First mouse model for multiple system atrophy points to new treatment targets for brain diseases4.
Mayo Clinic researchers create obedient virus; First step to use measles virus against cancer5.
First US kidney cancer vaccine trial underway at Columbia6.
First new treatment for alcoholism in ten years, now available Campral(R) (acamprosate calcium)7.
First US SARS vaccine trial opens at NIH8.
First-ever safety study of medical cannabis use in Canada launched9.
First solid evidence that the study of music promotes intellectual development10.
First medical test on CD gets good results11.
First proof that cutting Rx drugs due to cost harms health