CSF and Serum Oligoclonal Bands in MS
Submitted by art on Tue, 2009-06-09 06:58.
This study looked at CSF and serum (blood) oligoclonal bands (OCB) in 424 people with MS. They noticed some interesting patterns I don't remember seeing before - notably that most people with PPMS showed OCB in serum and CSF, but most RRMS/SPMS showed only in CSF. More data that this probably isn't a single disease.
Probably because in PPMS
Probably because in PPMS there is a breakdown in the blood brain barrier. In RRMS/SPMS, cytokines and other immune cells are basically trapped in a brain version of a "roach motel"--they can check in, but they can't get back out.