Blood test may predict multiple sclerosis

Main Category: MRI / PET / Ultrasound
Article Date: 11 Jul 2003 - 0:00 PDT


A new blood test may be the first reliable way to predict whether a person will develop the debilitating nerve disease multiple sclerosis (MS).

The test, which takes just two days, could speed up diagnosis and allow patients to be treated sooner with drugs that slow the disease.

MS is an autoimmune disorder, characterised by chronic inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. It is poorly understood, but it is thought that the proteins produced by the body attack and destroy myelin sheath, the protective coating for nerves.

Attacks, which range from numbness to paralysis, are often followed by a variable period of remission after which relapse may occur.

The disease is notoriously difficult to detect because the early symptoms, which include tingling, blurred vision and vertigo, are shared by other illnesses and can come and go.

One-third of people with such symptoms recover and never develop MS. Currently patients must wait six months to see if symptoms reoccur or undergo MRI scans of the brain, which is an unreliable method for MS prediction.

Worsening symptoms

The new test, developed by Austrian researchers was 95 per cent accurate in determining which patients exhibiting early neurological symptoms would suffer a relapse often with worsening symptoms within eight months.

'We tested 103 volunteers who had initial symptoms and all 65 of those who tested positive suffered full-blown MS within 14 months,' said Thomas Berger, who led the study at the University of Innisbruck.

The test looks for two kinds of autoimmune antibodies in the patients - those testing positive were 76 times more likely to develop MS than those with a negative result. Just a quarter of those who tested negative for the proteins went on to develop the disease within eight years.

'It's good news for patients who want access to the drug interferon beta, which is effective at preventing relapse in 35 per cent of cases. They may now be able to get the drug earlier on before their condition has worsened,' Berger told New Scientist.

Costing around 50 euros, the test is also much cheaper than an MRI scan, which costs as much as 600 euros, he added.

It is still not known what role the antibodies play in MS, but Berger believes that they may attack the myelin directly. These antibodies are carried by 5 per cent of the healthy general population.

'This would appear to be encouraging news, however we are waiting to see what the longer term benefits may be,' a spokesman from the MS Society in London told New Scientist.

MS effects just over 0.1 per cent of the population and most commonly first strikes those aged between 25 and 35 years old. There is no known cure.

Journal reference: New England Journal of Medicine (vol 349, pp 139-145)

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