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In recent years, we have witnessed an alarming worldwide shortage of intravenous immunoglobulin, an agent that is commonly used to treat various autoimmune and systemic inflammatory diseases, many of which affect the nervous system. In this Viewpoint, Bayryet al.explain the reasons for this shortage, and propose some potential solutions to the problem.
Numerous lines of evidence from animal studies indicate that transplants of olfactory ensheathing cells—glial cells derived from the olfactory system—can promote functional recovery in the injured spinal cord. In this Review, Barnett and Riddell analyze this evidence and examine the mechanisms by which repair might be achieved, as well as assessing the prospects for translating this approach into the clinic.
Following the discovery that the brain is strikingly susceptible to oxidative DNA damage, considerable attention has been focused on improving our knowledge of the brain's DNA repair pathways and genomic stability. In this article, Kalluri Subba Rao reviews the current state of knowledge regarding neurological diseases that have an etiological link with DNA repair defects, discussing the relationship between the neurological phenotype and the DNA repair pathway that is compromised.
X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized biochemically by abnormal accumulation of very long chain fatty acids in all tissues of the body. In this Review, Moseret al.describe the biochemical, genetic and clinical features of this disorder, and discuss new approaches to its diagnosis and treatment, including newborn screening and the use of Lorenzo's oil.