Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a multifactorial, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system, where environmental factors interact with genetic susceptibility. The role of diet on MS has not been comprehensively elucidated; therefore, through an extensive search of relevant literature, this review reports the most significant evidence regarding nutrition as a possible co-factor influencing the inflammatory cascade by acting on both its molecular pathways and gut microbiota. Since nutritional status and dietary habits in MS patients have not been extensively reported, the lack of a scientific-based consensus on dietary recommendation in MS could encourage many patients to experiment alternative dietetic regimens, increasing the risk of malnutrition. This work investigates the health implications of an unbalanced diet in MS, and collects recent findings on nutrients of great interest among MS patients and physicians. The aim of this review is to elucidate the role of an accurate nutritional counseling in MS to move toward a multidisciplinary management of the disease and to encourage future studies demonstrating the role of a healthy diet on the onset and course of MS.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive neuromodulation technique that is increasingly used as a nonpharmacological intervention against cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias. Although rTMS has been shown to modify cognitive performances and brain functional connectivity (FC) in many neurological and psychiatric diseases, there is still no evidence about the possible relationship between executive performances and resting-state brain FC following rTMS in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In this preliminary study, we aimed to evaluate the possible effects of rTMS of the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in 27 MCI patients randomly assigned to two groups: one group received high-frequency (10 Hz) rTMS (HF-rTMS) for four weeks (n = 11), and the other received sham stimulation (n = 16). Cognitive and psycho-behavior scores, based on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Apathy Evaluation Scale, and brain FC, evaluated by independent component analysis of resting state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) networks, together with the assessment of regional atrophy measures, evaluated by whole-brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM), were measured at baseline, after five weeks, and six months after rTMS stimulation. Our results showed significantly increased semantic fluency (p = 0.026) and visuo-spatial (p = 0.014) performances and increased FC within the salience network (p ≤ 0.05, cluster-level corrected) at the short-term timepoint, and increased FC within the left fronto-parietal network (p ≤ 0.05, cluster-level corrected) at the long-term timepoint, in the treated group but not in the sham group. Conversely, regional atrophy measures did not show significant longitudinal changes between the two groups across six months. Our preliminary findings suggest that targeting DLPFC by rTMS application may lead to a significant long-term increase in FC in MCI patients in a RS network associated with executive functions, and this process might counteract the progressive cortical dysfunction affecting this domain.

Objective: To assess whether the presence of concomitant diseases at multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis is associated with the choice and the treatment persistence in an Italian MS cohort. Methods: We included newly diagnosed patients (2010–2016) followed in 20 MS centers and collected demographic and clinical data. We evaluated baseline factors related to the presence of comorbidities and the association between comorbidities and the clinical course of MS and the time to the first treatment switch. Results: The study cohort included 2,076 patients. Data on comorbidities were available for 1,877/2,076 patients (90.4%). A total of 449/1,877 (23.9%) patients had at least 1 comorbidity at MS diagnosis. Age at diagnosis (odds ratio 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04–1.06; p < 0.001) was the only baseline factor independently related to the presence of comorbidities. Comorbidities were not significantly associated with the choice of the first disease-modifying treatment, but were significantly associated with higher risk to switch from the first treatment due to intolerance (hazard ratio 1.42, CI 1.07–1.87; p = 0.014). Association of comorbidities with risk of switching for intolerance was significantly heterogeneous among treatments (interferon β, glatiramer acetate, natalizumab, or fingolimod; interaction test, p = 0.04). Conclusions: Comorbidities at diagnosis should be taken into account at the first treatment choice because they are associated with lower persistence on treatment.