Study uncovers a possible biomarker linked to MS disease progression
· News-MedicalA new University of Toronto-led study has discovered a possible biomarker linked to multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression that could help identify patients most likely to benefit from new drugs.
Roughly 10 per cent of people with MS are initially diagnosed with progressive MS, which leads to a gradual worsening of symptoms and increasing disability over time. Patients initially diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS, the more common form of the condition, can also go on to develop progressive MS.
"But for progressive MS, the landscape is completely different. We have no effective therapies."
Ramaglia, who co-led the study with Gommerman, notes that until their study, the research field did not have a good model that replicates the pathology of progressive MS.
These results led the researchers to hypothesize that the ratio of CXCL13 to BAFF could be a surrogate marker for leptomeningeal inflammation.
Thus far, BTK inhibitors have seen mixed results in clinical trials with people with MS. Ramaglia says that without an easy way to detect leptomeningeal inflammation, the trials likely enrolled participants who did not have this feature and were unlikely to benefit from the drug. Any positive results from people with compartmentalized inflammation would then be diluted.
"If we can use the ratio as a proxy to tell which patients should be treated with a drug that targets leptomeningeal inflammation, that can revolutionize the way we do clinical trials and how we treat patients," says Ramaglia.
She credits her time as a research associate in Gommerman's lab as playing a key role in helping her become an independent investigator.
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