ScienceDaily (July 12, 2012) — Diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS) is a challenge even for experienced neurologists. This autoimmune disease has many symptoms and rarely presents a uniform clinical picture. New scientific findings on the immune response involved in MS could now help improve the diagnosis of this illness. Scientists analyzing the blood of MS patients have discovered antibodies that attack a specific potassium channel in the cell membrane. Potassium channels play an important role in transmitting impulses to muscle and nerve cells and it is exactly these processes that are inhibited in MS patients.
The results are published in
the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
For
the first time, scientists in Germany’s multiple sclerosis competence network
have been able to identify an antibody that bonds with the potassium channel
KIR4.1. “We found this autoantibody in almost half of the MS patients in
our study,” explains Bernhard Hemmer, Professor of Neurology at the
Klinikum rechts der Isar hospital at Technische Universität München (TUM). The
biomarker was not present in healthy patients. The findings could therefore
indicate that KIR4.1 is one of the targets of the autoimmune response in MS.
Humans and animals without the KIR4.1 channel experience neurological failure
and cannot coordinate their movements properly. Furthermore, their bodies do
not create sufficient amounts of myelin, a layer of insulation that protects
the nerve cells.
the first time, scientists in Germany’s multiple sclerosis competence network
have been able to identify an antibody that bonds with the potassium channel
KIR4.1. “We found this autoantibody in almost half of the MS patients in
our study,” explains Bernhard Hemmer, Professor of Neurology at the
Klinikum rechts der Isar hospital at Technische Universität München (TUM). The
biomarker was not present in healthy patients. The findings could therefore
indicate that KIR4.1 is one of the targets of the autoimmune response in MS.
Humans and animals without the KIR4.1 channel experience neurological failure
and cannot coordinate their movements properly. Furthermore, their bodies do
not create sufficient amounts of myelin, a layer of insulation that protects
the nerve cells.
..
Please note that all comments are moderated.
So that you can be kept up to date with MS news
Click here to: REGISTER – for our weekly e-Newsletter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit our MS Learning Channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/msviewsandnews
