Blood Biomarker Reveals Signs of Multiple Sclerosis Years Before

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) and affects nearly a million Americans. There is no cure, so treatments focus on helping patients manage their symptoms, control flare-ups, and slow the progression of the disease. Now, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) scientists have discovered a precursor in the blood of some people who later went on to develop MS. These findings could potentially hasten treatments for patients with MS.

In about one in ten cases of MS, the body begins producing a distinctive set of antibodies against its own proteins years before symptoms emerge. These autoantibodies appear to bind to both human cells and common pathogens, possibly explaining the immune attacks on the brain and spinal cord that are the hallmark of MS.

The findings are published in Nature Medicine.