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 Transverse Myelitis (TM) is a focal inflammatory disorder of the spinal cord resulting in motor and sensory problems. It is a rare disorder associated with a heterogeneous group of diseases with distinct clinical presentations and pathologies. TM may exist as part of a multi-focal CNS disease (e.g. MS), multi-systemic disease (e.g. sarcoidosis), or as an isolated, idiopathic entity. The pathogenesis of TM is believed to be immune-mediated. Very little is known definitively about the inciting cause of inflammation in the CNS of patients with TM, and nothing is currently understood about the mechanisms of tissue injury in this inflammatory disease. A significant and expanding body of work has demonstrated that the nervous and immune systems are integrated to form an interdependent cellular and signaling network. These network depends of interaction of neurons with neurglial cells such as microglia and astroglia and soluble mediators called cytokines that are released by both immune and central nervous system cells and modulate both physiological and pathological processes. Our Research on Transverse Myelitis Immunopathology Our laboratory supports the Transverse Myelitis Center in projects related with neuropathological analysis of brain tissues to determine the role of immune mechanisms mediated by T lymphocytes, microglia and astroglia in the pathogenesis of this disorder. An effort to collect brain tissues from patients with TM through a program of brain and spinal cord tissue banking is part of our effort to improve research on areas of pathogenesis of spinal cord diseases. Trasnverse Myelitis Links
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