Oral contraceptives and the risk of multiple sclerosis: A review of the epidemiologic evidence

Noseworthy, 2000, Multiple sclerosis, N Engl J Med, 343, 938, 10.1056/NEJM200009283431307 Alonso, 2008, Temporal trends in the incidence of multiple sclerosis: a systematic review, Neurology, 71, 129, 10.1212/01.wnl.0000316802.35974.34 Confavreux, 1998, Rate of pregnancy-related relapse in multiple sclerosis. Pregnancy in Multiple Sclerosis Group, N Engl J Med, 339, 285, 10.1056/NEJM199807303390501 Gilmore, 2004, Preliminary studies of cytokine secretion patterns associated with pregnancy in MS patients, J Neurol Sci, 224, 69, 10.1016/j.jns.2004.06.011 Offner, 2006, A potential role for estrogen in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis, Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1089, 353, 10.1196/annals.1386.021 Bebo, 2001, Low-dose estrogen therapy ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in two different inbred mouse strains, J Immunol, 166, 2080, 10.4049/jimmunol.166.3.2080 Subramanian, 2003, Oral feeding with ethinyl estradiol suppresses and treats experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in SJL mice and inhibits the recruitment of inflammatory cells into the central nervous system, J Immunol, 170, 1548, 10.4049/jimmunol.170.3.1548 Ito, 2001, Estrogen treatment down-regulates TNF-alpha production and reduces the severity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in cytokine knockout mice, J Immunol, 167, 542, 10.4049/jimmunol.167.1.542 Matejuk, 2001, 17 beta-estradiol inhibits cytokine, chemokine, and chemokine receptor mRNA expression in the central nervous system of female mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, J Neurosci Res, 65, 529, 10.1002/jnr.1183 Adamski, 2004, 17beta-estradiol inhibits class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) expression: influence on histone modifications and CBP recruitment to the class II MHC promoter, Mol Endocrinol, 18, 1963, 10.1210/me.2004-0098 Liu, 2002, Estrogen inhibition of EAE involves effects on dendritic cell function, J Neurosci Res, 70, 238, 10.1002/jnr.10409 Morales, 2006, Treatment with an estrogen receptor alpha ligand is neuroprotective in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, J Neurosci, 26, 6823, 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0453-06.2006 Vessey, 1984, The Oxford-Family Planning Association contraceptive study, Clin Obstet Gynaecol, 11, 743, 10.1016/S0306-3356(21)00625-7 Vessey, 2007, Oral contraceptives and benign breast disease: an update of findings in a large cohort study, Contraception, 76, 418, 10.1016/j.contraception.2007.08.011 Villard-Mackintosh, 1993, Oral contraceptives and reproductive factors in multiple sclerosis incidence, Contraception, 47, 161, 10.1016/0010-7824(93)90088-O Hannaford, 2007, Cancer risk among users of oral contraceptives: cohort data from the Royal College of General Practitioner's oral contraception study, BMJ, 335, 651, 10.1136/bmj.39289.649410.55 Thorogood, 1998, The influence of oral contraceptives on the risk of multiple sclerosis, Br J Obstet Gynaecol, 105, 1296, 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1998.tb10008.x Hernán, 2000, Oral contraceptives and the incidence of multiple sclerosis, Neurology, 55, 848, 10.1212/WNL.55.6.848 Poser, 1983, New diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: guidelines for research protocols, Ann Neurol, 13, 227, 10.1002/ana.410130302 Jick, 1991, Validation of information recorded on general practitioner based computerised data resource in the United Kingdom, BMJ, 302, 766, 10.1136/bmj.302.6779.766 García Rodríguez, 1998, Use of the UK General Practice Research Database for pharmacoepidemiology, Br J Clin Pharmacol, 45, 419, 10.1046/j.1365-2125.1998.00701.x Jick, 2003, Validity of the General Practice Research Database, Pharmacotherapy, 23, 686, 10.1592/phco.23.5.686.32205 McDonald, 2001, Recommended diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: guidelines from the International Panel on the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, Ann Neurol, 50, 121, 10.1002/ana.1032 Hernán, 2004, Recombinant hepatitis B vaccine and the risk of multiple sclerosis. A prospective study, Neurology, 63, 838, 10.1212/01.WNL.0000138433.61870.82 Alonso, 2005, Recent use of oral contraceptives and the risk of multiple sclerosis, Arch Neurol, 62, 1362, 10.1001/archneur.62.9.1362 Poser, 1979, Pregnancy, oral contraceptives and multiple sclerosis, Acta Neurol Scand, 59, 108, 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1979.tb02917.x Holmqvist, 2006, Symptoms of multiple sclerosis in women in relation to sex steroid exposure, Maturitas, 54, 149, 10.1016/j.maturitas.2005.10.003