An antibody found in the blood of people suffering from multiple sclerosis could be present long before the disease develops or symptoms appear.
"If our results can be replicated in larger populations, our findings may help to detect MS earlier in a subgroup of patients," study author Viola Biberacher, MD, with Technical University in Munich, Germany said in an American Academy of Neurology news release. "Finding the disease before symptoms appear means we can better prepare to treat and possibly even prevent those symptoms. This finding also demonstrates that the antibody development to the KIR4.1 protein, a protein found in some people with MS, precedes the clinical onset of disease suggesting a role of the autoantibody in how the disease develops."
A research team looked at samples from 16 healthy blood donors who had been diagnosed with MS later on and compared them with 16 blood donors who had not been diagnosed with the disease. They looked for an antibody called KIR4.1, which is present in MS patients. The donors were all of the same age and sex and the samples were taken between between two and nine months before the first symptoms occurred.
The researchers then looked at antibodies in the blood at points up to six years before and after the onset of the disease.
The team found the KIR4.1 antibodies were present in MS patients several years before the onset of the disease.
"The next step is to confirm these findings in larger groups and determine how many years before onset of disease the antibody response develops," Biberacher said.
"The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 27,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy," the news release reported.
