Exploring Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Disease Activity

MS, taste, and smell: Alterations in taste and smell may be common issues for people with MS, and may represent a way to track underlying disease activity. In a small study, Dr. Gabriele de Luca (Oxford University) found that 12 of 17 people with MS had alterations in detecting smells, and that this issue correlated with damage to nerve-insulating myelin in the olfactory nerve. Dr. Felix Schmidt (University of Berlin) found that both smell and taste dysfunction correlated with MS disability scores (EDSS). (Abstracts P6.173, P6.165)

Toxic cells: Dr. Robert Lisak and collaborators at Wayne State University and the Montreal Neurological Institute reported that immune B cells taken from the blood of people with relapsing MS, but not those from healthy controls, secreted something that killed nerve cells growing in lab dishes. Previous work by the same team had also found that MS B cells were toxic to myelin-making cells. The toxic factor is not an obvious immune product such as immunoglobulin or complement. If the factor can be identified, it could lead to important insights and more focused therapies targeting B cells in MS. (Abstract P4.342)

MRI lesions predict relapses: Using a large dataset gathered from people with relapsing MS who participated in three clinical trials, Dr. Nancy Richert and colleagues (Biogen Idec) managed to track the impact of MRI-detected brain lesions, or spots of disease activity, on later disease course. They found that those who had one or more new or enlarging lesion (T2) during the first year were twice as likely to experience a relapse during the second year compared to those who did not have these lesions. The results verify that MRI scans can detect early signs of future activity and help inform treatment decisions. (Abstract P3.190)

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