Autoantibody Profile Diagnosis

[frodo]

Autoantibody Profile Emerged Years Before Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/a ... ct/2819074

About 10% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) had an autoantibody signature that was present at least 5 years before symptoms, according to an analysis of blood samples from 500 military service members. Researchers collected the first sample an average of 5 years before some participants started experiencing MS symptoms, and the second about 1 year after symptoms appeared. The findings were validated using an additional cohort of more than 100 patients who were enrolled during their first MS attack and later diagnosed with the disease.

The results could be used to identify patients with MS before symptoms appear, the researchers reported in Nature Medicine.

Participants with MS also tended to have higher levels of serum neurofilament light, a protein that indicates axonal damage, before being diagnosed. This suggests that patients might already experience degeneration of the central nervous system from immune system dysfunction in the years before symptoms appear, the authors noted.