Early miccoglial biomarkers for long-term progression in multiple sclerosis.

From a clinical perspective, one of the most important aspects for individuals with MS is long-term outcome, i.e. how and when disability is reached and quality of life affected. For example, some individuals with MS will experience frequent relapses necessitating early start of aggressive therapy whereas others will remain relapse-free for longer periods untreated. Over time, a subset of individuals with MS will develop significant disabilities, e.g. requiring walking aids or a wheel-chair, but this is clearly not the long-term outcome for all patients. Our previous work and that of others demonstrates that factors driving patient-to-patient heterogeneity in MS are different from those contributing to an individual’s susceptibility to MS. In contrast to the successes for susceptibility, the basis for understanding clinical heterogeneity after onset of the disease remains largely unresolved, and current tools for prognosis are limited. Investigating this heterogeneity requires well-characterized study populations of individuals with MS. Using an extensive study population with longitudinal follow-up and state‑of‑the-art genetic technologies, we aim to establish sensitive biomarkers that are able to predict at the time of diagnosis how the disease will evolve many years later. Such insight would provide novel tools for prognosis.