Exploring the human tear fluid: discovery of new biomarkers in multiple sclerosis.

PURPOSE: Multiple sclerosis is the first cause of progressive neurological disability among young adults living in Western countries. Its diagnosis is mostly based on clinical evaluation, neuroimaging, and in some cases cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, but no definitive diagnostic test exists. We proposed here that the exploration of tears from multiple sclerosis patients could lead to the discovery of new biomarkers. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Thirty multiple sclerosis patients (20% men) recruited to the Geneva University Hospitals were included in our study (mean age ± SD [years]: 42.4 ± 15.9). Twenty-five control patients (32% men) were also enrolled (mean age ± SD [years]: 42.7±15.1). Tears, CSF or blood was collected for each patient. Three independent quantitative (tandem mass tag) experiments were carried out between tears from multiple sclerosis and control patients. Protein verification was performed by Western blot on tears and CSF and by ELISA on serum samples. RESULTS: Combined proteomics analyses provided 185 identified tear proteins. Among the differential proteins, alpha-1 antichymotrypsin was the only one to be significantly increased in the three experiments with similar ratios (ratios 1.6 to 2.5, p < 0.05). Its tear, CSF and serum elevation were further confirmed by Western blot and ELISA, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study supports the concept that modifications of the tear proteome can reflect biological abnormalities associated with multiple sclerosis and perhaps other inflammatory conditions affecting the CNS. In addition, alpha-1 antichymotrypsin elevation in tear fluid emerges as a promising biomarker for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

The use of onabotulinum toxin A in the treatment of see-saw nystagmus.

See-saw nystagmus (SSN) is an uncommon disorder that consists of cycles in which one eye rises and intorts while the other depresses and extorts, followed by reversal of the pattern. It typically causes debilitating symptoms including oscillopsia that interfere with activities of daily living. There are myriad etiologies, including stroke, tumors, trauma, and multiple sclerosis. Treatment options are limited and are often unsatisfactory. The authors report a case in which targeted injections of onabotulinum toxin A were used to decrease the torsional component of SSN and thus significantly improve the subjective symptoms of oscillopsia in a patient with acquired SSN.

Room tilt illusion influenced by head position.

After a low brainstem stroke, a 73-year-old man experienced episodes of 90 degrees tilting of the visual environment in the sagittal plane evoked or terminated by voluntarily changing his head position. The episodes ceased 10 days after the stroke. This provocation by head position supports the idea that pathologic visual-vestibular interaction is at the basis of the room tilt illusion.