Biomarker Found for Multiple Sclerosis Patient Response Prediction to Standard Therapy

The first biomarker for multiple sclerosis (MS) that might predict which patients will respond to a standard therapy

The first biomarker for multiple sclerosis (MS) that might predict which patients will respond to a standard therapy and which will not, has been discovered by scientists.

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), along with researchers at Stanford University, found that patients with a particular type of T helper immune cells responded well to interferon-_, the usual first-line therapy for the disease, while those with a different T helper immune-cell type either did not respond or experienced worsening symptoms.

Multiple sclerosis - Symptoms - Causes - Diagnosis - Treatment
Multiple sclerosis can be a severely disabling autoimmune disease that affects the myelin or insulating layer of the nerve fibers and typically has remissions and relapses

"Interferon-_ is typically the first therapeutic choice for most MS patients, but there is a subset of about 30 percent of patients for whom it does not work and may make the patient worse," said Chander Raman, associate professor in the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology and lead investigator of the study.

"Our findings, in both animal and human models, indicate that the type of T helper cell present is the determining factor in predicting whether interferon-_ will be effective," Raman added.

Raman suggests this might be another rung on the ladder leading to personalized medicine, in which therapies are based on an individual's physiology and genetic makeup and the nature of disease.

Study Reveals A Simple Blood Test That May Help Predict Severity Of Multiple Sclerosis
University College London scientists have revealed that a simple blood test may soon help predict the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS).

"When our findings are verified in an expanded human trial, a simple blood test could be used to determine which type of T helper cell is predominantly responsible for the disease in an MS patient, enabling clinicians to provide the proper therapy from the beginning of treatment and eliminate the guesswork," Raman said.

The researchers examined T helper Type 1 cells and T helper Type 17 cells in an animal model for multiple sclerosis. Both Th1 and Th17 cells are major initiators of MS and important in disease severity. The researchers found that interferon-_ was effective in mice with disease initiated by Th1 cells, but worsened disease initiated by Th17 cells.

Using Swedish Snuff Not Associated With An Elevated Risk For Multiple Sclerosis
A new study finds that unlike cigarettes, Swedish snuff doesn't increase a person's risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS).

The findings were replicated with striking consistency in analysis of human-patient serum with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease.

"This research reinforces the concept that diseases have certain signatures that help define their origin and give us glimpses of how they manifest in our bodies. The more we understand these signatures, the more likely we will be able to intervene at a critical junction and design and provide therapies that lessen or cure disease," said Raman.

Promising New Therapy for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis
A new study has revealed that patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis who combine standard treatment with doses of a humanized monoclonal antibody called daclizumab might fewer relapses

The findings have been published online March 28 in Nature Medicine.

Source-ANI
TRI