Identification of double-stranded DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with acute neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder

Mamoru Yamamoto; Tatsusada Okuno; Jin-Lan Piao; Mikito Shimizu; Katsuichi Miyamoto; Takamasa Nukui; Makoto Kinoshita; Toru Koda; Ratna Dini Haryuni; Hideki Mochizuki; Tomoyuki Sugimoto; Yuji Nakatsuji

doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2022.12.005

Identification of double-stranded DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with acute neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder

J Clin Neurosci. 2023 Jan:107:129-132. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2022.12.005. Epub 2022 Dec 19.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toyama, Japan.
² Department of Neurology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. Electronic address: okuno@neurol.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.
³ Department of Neurology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Kindai University School of Medicine, Japan.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toyama, Japan; Research Center for Radioisotope, Radiopharmaceutical, and Biodosimetry Technology, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia.
⁶ Graduate School of Data Science, Shiga University, Shiga, Japan.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toyama, Japan. Electronic address: nakatsuj@med.u-toyama.ac.jp.

PMID: 36543044
DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2022.12.005

Abstract

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by severe myelitis and optic neuritis. Double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is involved in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus. However, its role in NMOSD remains unclear. In this study, the concentration of dsDNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was quantified in 23 patients with NMOSD and 16 patients with other neurological diseases (ONDs). CSF dsDNA levels in patients with NMOSD (median: 0.03 ng/µL) were significantly higher than those in patients with ONDs (median: 0.01 ng/μl). CSF dsDNA levels showed no significant difference before and after treatment. Elevation of CSF dsDNA levels may suggest its essential role in the augmentation of CNS inflammation in patients with NMOSD.

Keywords: CSF; NMOSD; dsDNA.

MeSH terms

Aquaporin 4
DNA
Humans
Inflammation
Neuromyelitis Optica*
Optic Neuritis*

Substances

Aquaporin 4
DNA