As treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) advance, researchers are on the brink of a breakthrough: a simple blood test that could predict the onset of the disease years before symptoms appear.
MS, a condition where the immune system damages nerve coatings, affects nearly a million people in the US alone. Current diagnosis relies on complex brain scans, but a team led by University of California San Francisco (UCSF) researchers has identified a promising avenue for early detection.
By analyzing blood samples from hundreds of MS patients, the team uncovered a set of antibodies common among those who would later develop the disease. While present in only 10 percent of pre-MS blood samples, the presence of these antibodies accurately predicted MS onset in every case, offering a potentially invaluable diagnostic tool.
Neurologist Michael Wilson of UCSF highlights the significance: “A diagnostic result like this makes such early intervention more likely, giving patients hope for a better life.”
The research, validated across multiple studies, also revealed elevated levels of neurofilament light (Nfl) protein in the blood of individuals with the tell-tale antibodies – suggesting that brain damage precedes MS symptoms.
Biochemist Joseph DeRisi of UCSF explains, “When the immunological signature of a person looks like someone else… we begin to suspect something is wrong, and that’s what we found in these MS patients.”
While questions remain, this discovery represents a significant step forward in understanding MS and offers the potential for earlier intervention and treatment. The study has been published in Nature Medicine.
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