Shirin Farjadian; Bahareh Fakhraei; Zahra Niknam; Mahboubeh Nasiri; Aslan Azad; Mojtaba Farjam; Alireza Nikseresht
Volume 17, Issue 3 , July 2018, , Pages 105-110
Abstract
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neuroinflammatory disease in young adults. Anxiety and depression may predispose individuals to MS and flare-ups. Serotonin transmission is modified in some brain regions of patients with MS, and these changes may contribute to their psychiatric ...
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Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neuroinflammatory disease in young adults. Anxiety and depression may predispose individuals to MS and flare-ups. Serotonin transmission is modified in some brain regions of patients with MS, and these changes may contribute to their psychiatric abnormalities. We studied the frequencies of common polymorphisms of the serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) gene in patients with MS according to their psychological status.
Methods: The 5-HTTLPR, rs25531, and STin2VNTR polymorphisms of the SERT gene were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods in 100 patients with MS and 100 healthy controls.
Results: There were no remarkable differences in SERT gene polymorphisms between patients with MS and healthy controls. Unlike the control group, 41% of the patients showed some degree of depression based on Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), but no association was observed between SERT gene polymorphisms after the patients were stratified by depression status.
Conclusion: In addition to SERT gene polymorphisms, modulation of serotonin at the synapses may also be regulated by genetic variations in tryptophan hydroxylase type 2 and serotonin receptors. Further studies with functional brain imaging of the serotonergic system in patients with MS can provide information on the role of serotonin in this disease.
Mohammad Reza Sasani; Ali Reza Dehghan; Ali Reza Nikseresht
Volume 16, Issue 4 , October 2017, , Pages 168-172
Abstract
Background: There is a suggestion for a role of abnormal cranial venous drainage in the etiopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Moreover, it seems that cerebral developmental venous anomaly (DVA), a cerebrovascular malformation, is frequently seen in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of MS patients. ...
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Background: There is a suggestion for a role of abnormal cranial venous drainage in the etiopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Moreover, it seems that cerebral developmental venous anomaly (DVA), a cerebrovascular malformation, is frequently seen in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of MS patients. This study is set out to evaluate the relationship between MS and cerebral DVA, with its possible role in the MS diagnosis.Methods: We compared MRI of 172 MS patients and of 172 age- and sex-matched subjects without MS. Then, we recorded and analyzed the presence, number, and location of developmental venous anomalies.Results: Frequency of DVA did not have a significant statistical difference (P = 0.148) in subjects with MS (12.21%) and without MS (7.55%). Moreover, a difference of anatomic distribution of supratentorial developmental venous anomalies was not statistically significant (P = 0.690, for juxtacortical, P = 0.510 for subcortical, and P = 0.420 for periventricular DVAs) in two groups.Conclusion: Our investigation does not provide supporting evidence for a relationship between etiopathogenesis of MS and DVA. Furthermore, it may not be possible to use cerebral DVA as ancillary MRI finding to make MS diagnosis simpler and more accurate.
