Clinical Research Directory

Headache Prevalence and Phenotype in Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody -Associated Disease (MOGAD)

Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated Disease (MOGAD) is an inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system characterized by antibodies targeting myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG). Although the disease most commonly presents with optic neuritis, myelitis, or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, headache has increasingly been reported as a potentially relevant and disabling symptom. However, the prevalence and clinical characteristics of headache in MOGAD remain poorly defined. The purpose of this monocentric ambispective observational study is to evaluate the prevalence and clinical phenotype of headache in adult patients with MOGAD. The study aims to answer the following research questions: How common is headache in patients with MOGAD, what are its clinical characteristics, and does it show any correlation with any specific disease features? The primary objective is to estimate the prevalence of acute and/or chronic headache in patients with MOGAD. Secondary objectives include describing headache characteristics (location, duration, intensity, associated symptoms, and response to treatment), assessing the presence and evolution of pre-existing primary headache disorders, and exploring potential associations between headache and laboratory or neuroradiological findings, including anti-MOG antibody titers, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) oligoclonal bands, and the location of inflammatory or demyelinating lesions on MRI. Approximately 25 adult patients with MOGAD followed at the Multiple Sclerosis Center and Headache Clinic of the Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli IRCCS will be included. Clinical, laboratory, and neuroradiological data will be collected retrospectively and prospectively from medical records.

Frequency of FCGR3A Gene Polymorphisms in Patients With Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders, Anti-oligodendrocyte Myelin Protein Antibody Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis.

The goal of this study is to assess the frequency of genetic polymorphisms of the FCG3A in a cohort of Italian patients affected by neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and mog antibody associated disease (MOGAD) and in a a comparison group of patients affected with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The study will involve adult patients diagnosed with MS, NMOSD, or MOGAD, followed at various clinical centers in the Lazio region. Patients from the participating clinical centers will be selected, and their medical records will be analyzed to collect clinical and neuroimaging data. The data will include demographic information such as age, sex and body mass index and clinical information such as age at disease onset, disease duration, antibody status (AQP4+/- and MOG+/-), disease-modifying therapies, as well as MRI data and the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score. Each patient included in the study will undergo a single blood draw of approximately 5 ml of peripheral venous blood during routine blood tests, which will be used for DNA extraction and polimorphysm analysis. Demographic and clinical differences between patients with NMOSD and MOGAD, with and without the polymorphism, will be assessed and compared with the group of patients with MS.

Clinical and Imaging Cohort of Neuroinflammation Diseases in China (CLUE)

CLUE is a prospective study to determine structural and functional changes of brain and spinal cord, as well as the inflammatory environment in patients with neuroinflammatory and demyelination disease. Participants will receive new magnetic resonance (MR) technics including double inversion recovery (DIR) imaging diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and resting-state functional imaging and follow up for one year using 3T MRI. In addition, participants will receive T1WI, T2WI, FLAIR and SWI sequences on 7T MRI.