Gray matter damage linked to multiple sclerosis

Iron-containing deposits in the gray matter of the brain have been found in patients with multiple sclerosis.

The cause of multiple sclerosis (MS) is still not completely understood. Researchers at the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center and Jacobs Neurological Institute, in the USA, are using advanced magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain in MS. They report an interesting finding.

Previously it’s been thought that MS arises from lesions in the brain’s white matter. But the researchers have found lesions within the gray matter and, what’s more, these seem to contain a high level of iron. The extent of these lesions could be correlated with difficulty in walking and with cognitive problems. Why iron is present is still a bit of a mystery. It might be that people with MS have a leaky blood-brain barrier which allows the iron to enter. Or iron may be deposited as a result of brain cell death. Whatever the underlying process, this is clearly a fruitful new line of research.

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