Search

The paper wants to be a tracking shot of the main recent acquisitions on the function and significance of microglia/macrophages in gliomas. The observations have been principally carried out on in vitro cultures and on tumor transplants in animals. Contrary to what is deduced from microglia in non-neoplastic pathologic conditions of central nervous system (CNS), most conclusions indicate that microglia acts favoring tumor proliferation through an immunosuppression induced by glioma cells. By immunohistochemistry, different microglia phenotypes are recognized in gliomas, from ramified microglia to frank macrophagic aspect. One wonders whether the functional conclusions drawn from many microglia studies, but not in conditions of human pathology, apply to all the phenotypes recognizable in them. It is difficult to verify in human pathology a prognostic significance of microglia. Only CD163-positive microglia/macrophages inversely correlate with glioma patients' survival, whereas the total number of microglia does not change with the malignancy grade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document presents the guidelines for testing antibodies against neuronal surface antigens that have been developed following a consensus process built on questionnaire-based surveys, internet contacts, and discussions at workshops of the sponsoring Italian Association of Neuroimmunology (AINI) congresses. Essential clinical information on autoimmune encephalitis associated with antibodies against neuronal surface antigens, indications and limits of testing for such antibodies, instructions for result interpretation, and an agreed laboratory protocol (Appendix A) are reported for the communicative community of neurologists and clinical pathologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the populations of three different subsets of regulatory B cells (Bregs) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs) and explored the relationship between the changes in these subsets of Bregs and the severity of NMOSD. A total of 22 patients with relapsed NMOSDs before treatment were recruited in our study, along with 20 age and gender-matched healthy controls, from May 2015 to March 2016. The percentages and numbers for three different subsets of Bregs including the CD19+CD24hiCD38hi, CD19+CD24hiCD27+, and CD19+CD5+CD1dhi populations were evaluated in parallel by flow cytometry. Afterwards, correlations between the change of three different subsets of Bregs and disease severity were analyzed. We found significantly lower percentages of CD19+CD24hiCD38hi and CD19+CD5+CD1dhi Bregs in NMOSDs patients than in healthy individuals. In contrast, the CD19+CD24hiCD27+ Bregs population was significantly higher in NMOSDs patients than in healthy individuals. However, the three different Bregs subsets showed no significant correlation with expanded disability status scale (EDSS) or annualized relapse rate (ARR). Our findings suggest that the subsets of Bregs may play complex roles in the pathogenesis of NMOSDs and are not correlated with clinical disease severity. Further insights into the potential role of subsets of Bregs could increase our basic knowledge of NMOSDs pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]