Reacción a "Reactions: specific antibodies found in blood samples from patients years before they develop multiple sclerosis"

This is a study conducted by researchers at the University of California (San Francisco, USA) on blood samples from active-duty US military personnel. They identified 250 individuals who later developed multiple sclerosis (MS) and had a blood sample available several years before the first symptoms appeared and one year after the disease was diagnosed. They also identified a control group of 250 individuals with similar demographic characteristics who did not develop MS.   

In a subgroup of 10% of the individuals who develop MS, they found a specific pattern of antibodies in the blood directed against several of the body's own proteins, which is not present in the remaining individuals who develop the disease, nor in the control group, and this pattern appears stable over time. In addition, individuals with this pattern had a higher concentration of light-chain neurofilaments in their blood, a protein that indicates damage to neurons. 

Access to samples from individuals before the development of a disease is of paramount importance for studying the biological factors that operate or influence the early stages of complex diseases such as multiple sclerosis, in which there is an interplay between genetic and environmental factors. The study is also important because it unravels the high heterogeneity inherent in multiple sclerosis and identifies a subgroup of patients characterised by an antibody response to the body's own proteins - different from that of other patients with the disease and different from healthy individuals - that may help in earlier diagnosis of these patients. Although not demonstrated in the study, perhaps these patients will also have a worse prognosis for their disease, based on the higher concentrations of neurofilaments found in their blood, and will require more aggressive treatment for their disease.