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Multiple Sclerosis International
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 862169, 6 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/862169
Where Do AQP4 Antibodies Fit in the Pathogenesis of NMO?
Department of Neurology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, D4, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Received 27 October 2011; Revised 28 December 2011; Accepted 4 January 2012
Academic Editor: Jerome de Seze
Copyright © 2012 Makoto Kinoshita and Yuji Nakatsuji. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Recent advances in the field of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) research provided convincing evidence that anti-AQP4 antibody (AQP4-Ab) not only serves as a highly specific disease marker, but also plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Although it is now widely recognized that AQP4-Ab induces astrocytic necrosis in a complement-dependent manner, additional triggers are also suspected as a prerequisite for the development of the disease. Unraveling these unresolved aspects of the disease will provide substantial insight into still controversial issues in the pathogenesis of NMO.