Inflammatory polyneuropathies and Neuro-Sjögren's disease

Prof. Dr. med. Thomas Skripuletz

The working group deals with polyneuropathies caused by a misdirected immune system. This is a very heterogeneous group of diseases that includes different clinical pictures. Well-known representatives of inflammatory polyneuropathies are chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN). Another disease that can lead to severe polyneuropathies is Sjögren's syndrome (Neuro-Sjögren's), which is a particular focus of the working group.

In inflammatory polyneuropathies, patients can experience severe disabilities with paralysis of the arms and legs caused by nerve damage, which can result in an inability to walk. Important goals of the working group are therefore to understand the causes of such diseases and to find new markers in order to improve diagnostics so that affected patients can be treated more quickly and reliably in future. Further goals are to better understand the treatment options used in order to apply the ideal therapy for each patient.

A further focus of the working group is basic research with examinations of blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Using various techniques, the aim of the working group is to find new markers for neuroimmunological diseases such as multiple sclerosis in order to be able to diagnose these diseases more quickly and reliably in the future.