Researchers have identified a mechanism by which the adult brain can replace astrocytes, the neuron-supporting cells in the brain that are attacked and lost in people with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). Using mice with NMOSD-like disease, the researchers found that surviving astrocytes around lesions will replicate their DNA…
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A global clinical trial testing Ultomiris (ravulizumab-cwvz) in adults with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) found that the treatment kept patients free of relapses for more than 4.5 years. When compared with data from an external group of NMOSD patients given a placebo in a previous trial, the…
Children with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) are more likely to have severe vision problems and incomplete visual recovery than those with the related condition myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD). That’s according to a review of published studies involving children with NMOSD associated with antibodies against the aquaporin-4…
Ultomiris (ravulizumab-cwvz) and Soliris (eculizumab), two approved treatments for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), may work better than rituximab — a drug not cleared for treating the autoimmune disease but often used off-label — for preventing NMOSD relapses, according to a new review. Still, the study findings…
A specialized MRI measure used as a proxy of the brain’s waste-clearing system may help monitor disease severity and progression in people with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), according to a new study. NMOSD patients had significantly lower values of the imaging marker, called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analysis along…
A short-course of Soliris (eculizumab) treatment during relapses may help people with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) recover faster when standard therapies fail, a small study in China suggests. Patients who saw little or no improvement after corticosteroids, with or without plasma exchange, experienced meaningful gains in mobility…
People with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) may experience gradual shrinkage, or atrophy, of the brain even during periods without relapses, according to a new study that challenges the long-held view that most neurological damage in NMOSD occurs mainly during relapses. The researchers also found that starting biologic therapies earlier…
Even if they don’t have disease relapses, people with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) tend to experience abnormal atrophy, or shrinkage, of the spinal cord over time, a new study shows. According to the researchers, “spinal cord involvement … accounts for significant disability in up to 80% of patients…
MIL62, an injection therapy approved exclusively in China for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), was found to keep most NMOSD patients free of relapses for up to two years, while being generally safe and well tolerated. That’s according to data from the Phase 1b portion of a single-center…
An international team of researchers has identified three genetic variants significantly associated with higher odds of developing neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) with self-reactive antibodies against the AQP4 protein. The data also suggest that, in terms of genetic risk factors, AQP4-positive NMOSD is more similar to systemic autoimmune diseases…