More MS news articles for June 2002

Activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in multiple sclerosis: Correlations with gadolinium-enhancing lesions and ventricular volume

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/93519060/START

Annals of Neurology
Volume 51, Issue 6, 2002. Pages: 763-767
Erina M. Schumann, MD, Tania Kümpfel, MD, Florian Then Bergh, MD, Claudia Trenkwalder, MD, Florian Holsboer, MD, PhD, Dorothee P. Auer, MD *
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany

The known interaction between the immune system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis led us to explore the interrelation between magnetic resonance imaging findings and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in 53 multiple sclerosis patients.

The cortisol release induced by the dexamethasone-corticotropin-releasing hormone test was negatively associated with the presence and number of gadolinium-enhancing lesions and positively associated with ventricular size.

This finding suggests a protective effect of the hypothalamic- pituitary-adrenal drive on acute lesional inflammation in multiple sclerosis, probably by limiting immune overshoot.

In contrast, the nature of the correlation between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal hyperdrive and brain atrophy remains to be determined.