Significant numbers of nerve cell fragments are found in the blood of MS patients up to two years before they experience a deterioration in their condition. | Image: iStock

Multiple sclerosis (MS) progresses both in bursts and in a gradual process. Both developments can now be observed using a blood test, as is shown in a study conducted by the University Hospital of Basel and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The researchers at these two institutions analysed the data of almost 2,000 MS sufferers whose progress they had been documenting for several years.

Thanks to two cohorts, one each in Switzerland and California, they were able to show that the concentration of so-called neurofilaments in the blood increases significantly between one and two years before the patients experience a deterioration in their condition. These neurofilaments are fragments of the protective sheaths of nerve cells that are destroyed by the disease. “Thanks to this biomarker, neurologists will in future be able to react earlier and adjust medication accordingly”, says the biostatistician Pascal Benkert from Basel. In a best-case scenario, this could prevent a patient from suffering irreversible damage.

A. Abdelhak et al.: Neurofilament Light Chain Elevation and Disability Progression in Multiple Sclerosis. JAMA Neurology (2023)