New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS) A team of researchers has identified biomarkers that predict disability progression in people with multiple sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS).
This discovery will greatly benefit millions of people suffering from this disease across the world and they will be able to get effective treatment.
The team from Spain’s Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal has drawn this conclusion after studying 725 patients suffering from this disease in 13 hospitals in Spain and Italy.
In the study, researchers found that high levels of serum neurofilament light chain (SNFL), a protein that indicates nerve cell damage, could predict both relapse-associated deterioration (RAW) and progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) in the early stages of the disease.
Dr. Enrique Monreal and his team at the hospital analyzed blood samples from 725 MS patients collected within 12 months of disease onset.
Their findings suggest that high sNFL levels indicate intense inflammation within the CNS in MS. It increases the risk of having RAW by 45 percent and the risk of having PIRA by 43 percent.
Although people with high sNFL levels do not respond well to standard disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), they have been shown to benefit from high-efficacy DMTs such as natalizumab, alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, rituximab, and ofatumumab.
MS researcher Monreal suggested measuring both sNFL and sGFAP levels early in the disease. This would help to design treatment strategies for MS patients more effectively.
This would mean that people with low levels of both biomarkers, who have a good prognosis, could be treated with injections or DMTS, the researchers said.
“Current DMTs primarily target the peripheral adaptive immune system without affecting CNS immunity,” he said. Thus, “finding people with high levels of peripheral inflammation is important to prevent disability and benefit the patient.”
–IANS
PSM/CBT
