June 15, 2022 News by Margarida Maia, PhD High Immune Cell Counts in Blood May Be Linked to MS, Study Finds Higher numbers of immune cells circulating in the bloodstream may mean a greater likelihood of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study based on a large pool of genetic data in people of European ancestry. One particular type of immune cell, called natural killer (NK) cells, was linked…
June 9, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Blood Factors Impair Metabolism of Blood-brain Barrier in MS, Study Suggests Molecules in the blood of multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) patients promote a pro-inflammatory state and impair the metabolism and integrity of the blood-brain barrier, a study suggests. In MS, the disruption of the blood-brain barrierĀ (BBB)Ā ā a highly selective and protective membrane ā allows immune cells to reach the central nervous…
February 20, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Bone Marrow Transplant Can Replace Overactive Immune Cells, Preventing Inflammation in MS, Study Says A bone marrow transplant can remove the majority of overactive immune T cells from the central nervous system (CNS) in patients with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), allowing the body to replace them with healthy ones, a study has found. This opens up new treatment avenues to…
February 4, 2020 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Cerebrospinal Fluid of MS Patients More Diverse and Filled with Pro-Inflammatory Cells, Study Shows People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a more diverse set of immune cells in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the fluid that bathes the central nervous system, but no such diversity is seen in their blood, a study reports. Instead, MS causes changes in the activation of immune cells in…
November 28, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD High Lipid Levels Associated with Increased Disability, Inflammation in RRMS Patients, Study Shows High levels of certain lipids, or fat, in the blood are linked to increased disability scores and high levels of pro-inflammatory markers inĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients, a small study reports. The study, āLipoprotein markers associated with disability from multiple sclerosis,ā was published in the journal Scientific…
September 5, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Higher Levels of Neurofilament Light Chain in Blood and Cerebrospinal Fluid Found in MS Patients, Supporting its Prognostic Potential A meta-analysis of 13 case-control studies shows that the levels of the protein neurofilament light chain (NFL) are significantly higher in both the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, compared to healthy controls. This findingĀ adds to previous evidence supporting the usefulness of NFL as a…
January 24, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD MS Patients’ High Osteopontin Protein Levels Make It a Potential Biomarker for the Disorder, Study Reports Multiple sclerosis patients have high levels of a protein called osteopontin in their cerebrospinal fluid and blood, making it a potential tool for diagnosing the disease and predicting its course, a study suggests. The research, āOsteopontin (OPN) as a CSF and blood biomarker for multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis,ā was published in the journal PLOS One. Researchers wanted to know if levels of osteopontin inĀ cerebrospinal fluid and bloodĀ could be a reliable biomarker for MS. To arrive at answer, they āconducted a systematic review and meta-analysis" of studies that had measured the protein's levels in cerebrospinal fluid and blood "in MS patients and controls." The team searched for studies in three databases ā PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. Out of 27 that met their criteria, they used 22 in the meta-analysis. All four types of MS were represented in the studies ā clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting MS, secondary progressive MS, and primary progressive MS. There were three types of controls in the articlesĀ ā healthy people, people with non-inflammatory neurological disorders, and people with inflammatory neurological disorders. Researchers' first observation was that all of the MS patients had higher levels of osteopontin than controls. The protein's levels were significantly higher in relapsing-remitting MS patients than in those with clinically isolated syndrome, the group with the lowest osteopontin levels. Levels were similar in the other types of MS. Patients with an active disease had significantly higher levels of the protein in their cerebrospinal fluid than those with a stable disease. The results supported previous studies' findings that osteopontin levels are higher than normal in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of MS patients, strengthening the notion that it could be used as a biomarker for MS. āGiven the fact that OPN [osteopontin] levels are higher during relapses, we think that by monitoring this biomarker, Ā we might be able to predict the disease course," the team wrote. "We propose that developing drugs modulating OPN concentration may be a new treatment strategy for MS."
December 18, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD University of Huddersfield Team Develops Blood Test for Diagnosing MS University of HuddersfieldĀ researchers have developed a blood test for diagnosingĀ multiple sclerosis that avoids the invasive, painful process of collecting fluid from the brain and spine. The team at the British discussed the test in an article titled āSphingosine and dihydrosphingosine as biomarkers for multiple sclerosis identified by…
September 12, 2016 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD Can MS Be Detected by Biomarkers in the Blood? Yes, Study Says MicroRNAs present in the blood show promise as potential biomarkers of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study suggests. The study, titled āComprehensive Evaluation Of Serum MicroRNAs As Biomarkers In Multiple Sclerosis,ā was published by Keren Regev, MD, and colleagues in the journal Neurology. Human DNA contains…
March 18, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Blood Biomarkers of Multiple Sclerosis May Predict a Person’s Response to Treatment Blood biomarkers in individual multiple sclerosisĀ patientsĀ mayĀ help clinicians determine which treatments would be ofĀ mostĀ benefit to that person, according to researchersĀ atĀ Oklahoma Medical Research FoundationĀ (OMRF). The study, published in the journalĀ Neurology, Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, isĀ titled “Cytokine profiles show heterogeneity of interferon-Ī² response in multiple sclerosis patients.”…
October 14, 2015 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc Study Identifies Blood Coagulation Protein Fibrinogen as Cause of Brain Autoimmunity Researchers from the Gladstone Institutes have shown in a new study that fibrinogen, an important blood coagulation protein, can induce an autoimmune response in the central nervous system when the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is disrupted and blood proteins enter the brain. The study, entitled āBlood coagulation protein fibrinogen promotes…
May 12, 2015 News by admin Amarantus Releases Preliminary Data From Blood-Based MS Diagnostic Amarantus BioScienceĀ has released preliminary data from a blood test for multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā called theĀ MSPrecise diagnostic. The company believes that the test could lead to more accurate diagnoses of MSĀ early in the disease’s progression. MSPrecise is a DNA sequencing test designed to identify specific DNA mutations that are associated with the…