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| Tue Apr 11, 2006 8:06 pm Protein may predict MS |
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Protein may predict MS
By Patricia Nicholson
BALTIMORE | A protein found in cerebrospinal fluid appears to identify patients with either multiple sclerosis (MS) or the clinically isolated syndromes (CIS) that precede MS.
The protein, called 12.5 kDa cystatin (kDa, or kilodalton, is a measure of mass used to express the size of a molecule), may provide the basis for a simple diagnostic test for MS, perhaps even in the earliest stages of the disease. There is currently no laboratory test for diagnosing MS.
The 12.5 kDa cystatin protein is produced when a larger protein, called cystatin C or 13.4 kDa cystatin, is broken down. Cystatin C is known to block activity of the enzyme cathepsin B, which has been implicated in the demyelination that underlies MS.
Researchers led by Dr. Avindra Nath, a neurology professor at the Johns Hopkins University school of medicine, analysed cerebral spinal fluid in 133 patients: 29 had either MS or CIS, 27 had transverse myelitis, 50 had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and 27 had other neurological diseases.
Two-thirds of the MS and CIS patients had 12.5 kDa cystatin in their cerebrospinal fluid. Total levels of the cystatin proteins in the MS patients did not differ from the other patients, but the ratio of the broken-down 12.5 kDa cystatin to the larger 13.4 kDa protein was higher in MS and CIS patients.
This research, published in Annals of Neurology, suggests breakdown of cystatin C may be a host response in MS patients and 12.5 kDa cystatin in cerebrospinal fluid may help diagnose MS or monitor treatment. |
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