Connexin 30 Deficiency Ameliorates Disease Progression at the Early Phase in a Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis by Suppressing Glial Inflammation.

Connexin 30 (Cx30), which forms gap junctions between astrocytes, regulates cell adhesion and migration, and modulates glutamate transport. Cx30 is upregulated on activated astroglia in central nervous system inflammatory lesions, including spinal cord lesions in mutant superoxide dismutase 1 (mSOD1) transgenic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) model mice. Here, we investigated the role of Cx30 in mSOD1 mice. Cx30 was highly expressed in the pre-onset stage in mSOD1 mice. mSOD1 mice with knockout (KO) of the Cx30 gene (Cx30KO-mSOD1 mice) showed delayed disease onset and tended to have an extended survival period (log-rank, p = 0.09). At the progressive and end stages of the disease, anterior horn cells were significantly preserved in Cx30KO-mSOD1 mice. In lesions of these mice, glial fibrillary acidic protein/C3-positive inflammatory astroglia were decreased. Additionally, the activation of astrocytes in Cx30KO-mSOD1 mice was reduced compared with mSOD1 mice by gene expression microarray. Furthermore, expression of connexin 43 at the pre-onset stage was downregulated in Cx30KO-mSOD1 mice. These findings suggest that reduced expression of astroglial Cx30 at the early disease stage in ALS model mice protects neurons by attenuating astroglial inflammation.

A nationwide survey of facial onset sensory and motor neuronopathy in Japan.

The epidemiology and etiology of facial onset sensory and motor neuronopathy (FOSMN), a rare syndrome that initiates with facial sensory disturbances followed by bulbar symptoms, remain unknown. To estimate the prevalence of FOSMN in Japan and establish the characteristics of this disease, we conducted a nationwide epidemiological survey. In the primary survey, we received answers from 604 facilities (49.8%), leading to an estimated number of 35.8 (95% confidential interval: 21.5-50.2) FOSMN cases in Japan. The secondary survey collected detailed clinical and laboratory data from 21 cases. Decreased or absent corneal and pharyngeal reflexes were present in over 85% of the cases. Electrophysiological analyses detected blink reflex test abnormalities in 94.1% of the examined cases. Immunotherapy was administered in 81% of cases and all patients received intravenous immunoglobulin. Among them, 35.3% were judged to have temporary beneficial effects evaluated by the physicians in charge. Immunotherapy tended to be effective in the early stage of disease. The spreading pattern of motor and sensory symptoms differed between cases and the characteristics of the motor-dominant and sensory-dominant cases were distinct. Cases with motor-dominant progression appeared to mimic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This is the first nationwide epidemiological survey of FOSMN in Japan. The clinical course of FOSMN is highly variable and motor-dominant cases developed a more severe condition than other types of cases. Because clinical interventions tend to be effective in the early phase of the disease, an early diagnosis is desirable.

A novel quantitative indicator for disease progression rate in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: The current study sought to develop a new indicator for disease progression rate in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). METHODS: We used a nonparametric method to score diverse patterns of decline in the percentage of predicted forced vital capacity (%FVC) in patients with ALS. This involved 6317 longitudinal %FVC data sets from 920 patients in the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials (PRO-ACT) database volunteered by PRO-ACT Consortium members. To assess the utility of the derived scores as a disease indicator, we examined changes over time, the association with prognosis, and correlation with the Risk Profile of the Treatment Research Initiative to Cure ALS (TRICALS). Our local cohort (n = 92) was used for external validation. RESULTS: We derived scores ranging from 35 to 106 points to construct the FVC Decline Pattern scale (FVC-DiP). Individuals' FVC-DiP scores were determined from a single measurement of %FVC and disease duration at assessment. Although the %FVC declined over the disease course (p < 0.0001), the FVC-DiP remained relatively stable. Low FVC-DiP scores were associated with rapid disease progression. Using our cohort, we demonstrated an association between FVC-DiP and the survival prognosis, the stability of the FVC-DiP per individual, and a correlation between FVC-DiP scores and the TRICALS Risk Profile (r2 = 0.904, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: FVC-DiP scores reflected patterns of declining %FVC over the natural course of ALS and indicated the disease progression rate. The FVC-DiP may enable easy assessment of disease progression patterns and could be used for assessing treatment efficacy.

Clearance of peripheral nerve misfolded mutant protein by infiltrated macrophages correlates with motor neuron disease progression.

Macrophages expressing C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2) infiltrate the central and peripheral neural tissues of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. To identify the functional role of CCR2+ macrophages in the pathomechanisms of ALS, we used an ALS animal model, mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase 1G93A (mSOD1)-transgenic (Tg) mice. To clarify the CCR2 function in the model, we generated SOD1G93A/CCR2Red fluorescence protein (RFP)/Wild type (WT)/CX3CR1Green fluorescence protein (GFP)/WT-Tg mice, which heterozygously express CCR2-RFP and CX3CR1-GFP, and SOD1G93A/CCR2RFP/RFP-Tg mice, which lack CCR2 protein expression and present with a CCR2-deficient phenotype. In mSOD1-Tg mice, mSOD1 accumulated in the sciatic nerve earlier than in the spinal cord. Furthermore, spinal cords of SOD1G93A/CCR2RFP/WT/CX3CR1GFP/WT mice showed peripheral macrophage infiltration that emerged at the end-stage, whereas in peripheral nerves, macrophage infiltration started from the pre-symptomatic stage. Before disease onset, CCR2+ macrophages harboring mSOD1 infiltrated sciatic nerves earlier than the lumbar cord. CCR2-deficient mSOD1-Tg mice showed an earlier onset and axonal derangement in the sciatic nerve than CCR2-positive mSOD1-Tg mice. CCR2-deficient mSOD1-Tg mice showed an increase in deposited mSOD1 in the sciatic nerve compared with CCR2-positive mice. These findings suggest that CCR2+ and CX3CR1+ macrophages exert neuroprotective functions in mSOD1 ALS via mSOD1 clearance from the peripheral nerves.

Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy With Concurrent Membranous Nephropathy: An Anti-paranode and Podocyte Protein Antibody Study and Literature Survey.

Background: Several case reports have described the concurrence of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and membranous nephropathy (MN). The presence of autoantibodies against podocyte antigens phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) and thrombospondin type 1 domain containing 7A (THSD7A) in MN suggests an autoimmune mechanism. Some CIDP patients also harbor autoantibodies against paranodal proteins such as neurofascin 155 (NF155) and contactin-1 (CNTN1). We investigated the relationship between CIDP and MN by assaying autoantibodies against paranodal and podocyte antigens in a CIDP patient with MN, and by a literature survey on the clinical features of CIDP with MN. Methods: Anti-CNTN1 and NF155 antibodies were measured by flow cytometry using HEK293 cell lines stably expressing human CNTN1 or NF155. Binding capacity of antibodies was validated by immunostaining mouse teased sciatic nerve fibers. Anti-PLA2R antibodies were measured by enzyme-linked sorbent assay and anti-THSD7A antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence assay. Clinical features between 14 CIDP with MN cases including two with anti-CNTN1 antibodies and 20 anti-CNTN1 antibody-positive CIDP cases were compared. Results: A patient whose ages was in the late 70 s complained of progressive weakness and superficial and deep sensory impairment in four extremities over 6 months. Nerve conduction studies showed prominent demyelination patterns. The patient presented with nephrotic syndrome. Renal biopsy disclosed basement membrane thickening with local subepithelial projections and glomerular deposits of IgG4, compatible with MN. Autoantibody assays revealed the presence of IgG4 and IgG1 anti-CNTN1 antibodies, but an absence of anti-NF155, anti-PLA2R, and anti-THSD7A antibodies. The patient's serum stained paranodes of teased sciatic nerves. CIDP with MN and anti-CNTN1 antibody-positive CIDP commonly showed male preponderance, relatively higher age of onset, acute to subacute onset in 35-50% of cases, distal dominant sensorimotor neuropathy, proprioceptive impairment leading to sensory ataxia, and very high cerebrospinal fluid protein levels. However, 11 of 13 CIDP patients with MN had a favorable response to mono- or combined immunotherapies whereas anti-CNTN1 antibody-positive CIDP was frequently refractory to corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulin administration. Conclusion: CIDP with MN and anti-CNTN1 antibody-positive CIDP show considerable overlap but are not identical. CIDP with MN is probably heterogeneous and some cases harbor anti-CNTN1 antibodies.