Saturday, 5 January 2019

Maybe the Astrocyte loss is part of the symptomatology

Is myelin the target in MS? This study suggests that astrocytes may be equally important.



There are reports that astrocyte perivascular endfeet are damaged in some cases of multiple sclerosis (MS). This study was designed to determine the origin and outcome of astrocyte damage in acute, resolving, and inactive plaques. Ten acute plaques from 10 early MS cases and 14 plaques of differing histological age from 9 subacute and chronic cases were examined immunohistochemically. Also examined were nonnecrotic early lesions in 3 patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Plaques from 3 MS cases were examined electron microscopically. The edge zones in each of the 10 acute MS lesions revealed a complete loss of astrocyte cell bodies and their pericapillary, perineuronal, and perivascular foot processes. Dendrophagocytosis of degenerate astrocytes was observed. Astrocyte precursors, similar to those that replace destroyed astrocytes in nonnecrotic NMO lesions, were present in areas depleted of astrocytes. Resolving plaques were repopulated initially by stellate astrocytes that stained negatively for the water channel molecule aquaporin4 (AQP4). In older lesions, astrocytes were predominantly AQP4-positive. Loss and recovery of astrocytes in new MS lesions may be as important as myelin loss as a cause of conduction block responsible for symptoms in patients with relapsing and remitting and secondary progressive MS.




The blood brain barrier is formed by the action cells within the blood vessels but the feet of astrocytes (star-shaped cells in the CNS that support the health of nerves and blood vessels. In this study they looked at what happens to astrocytes during MS and they see that they are disappearing from around the blood vessel. They are being targeted in MS and they and their processes are being destroyed. As the lesions resolved there was astrocyte repair. So is this what contributes to symptoms? Maybe  but I guess one would expect that it contributes to the integrity of the blood brain barrier, allowing fluid and proteins etc. to enter the 
brain, which would impact how the nerves signal and may even temporatily stop nerve signals (Conduction block).