Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease in young adults and affects more than 2 million people worldwide. There are around 1500 cases in Estonia. Approximately 20% of MS patients have optic neuritis (ON) as the presenting symptom, but not all ON patients develop MS.
The TalTech Research Center for Genetic Engineering, in collaboration with the laboratory of Protobios OÜ and medical researchers from the University of Helsinki, published its results in the prestigious journal EBioMedicine with the title “Identification of two highly antigenic epitope markers that predict multiple sclerosis in patients with optic neuritis”. .
The main author Helle Sadam and the co-authors Mariliis Jaago and Annika Rähni are PhD students in the TalTech Department for Chemistry and Biotechnology in the Department of Genetic Engineering.
The main researcher of the study, Kaia Palm, associate professor in the genetic engineering department TalTech and head of research at Protobios OÜ: “We have developed and patented a very powerful technology called Mimotope Variation Analysis (MVA) for developing diagnostic tests and delimiting new drug targets.
It is based on the recognition of the diversity of the human B-cell immune response or the antibody profile. The immune response mediated by B lymphocytes plays an important role in the development of both (MS and ON) pathologies and is therefore a promising target for the detection of early diagnostic biomarkers for named diseases. “
Commenting on the importance of the work, Professor Pentti Tienari of the Institute of Neuroscience at Helsinki University and co-author of the study said, “Treatment for MS is most effective when started early, but there were few biomarkers available to identify those at risk after the first Identify episode of optic neuritis. “
In particular, the critical involvement of viruses in neurological diseases has therapeutic implications, particularly in the case of herpes viruses, against which several antiviral agents exist. “
Antti Vaheri, co-author and professor of the study, emeritus in virology, University of Helsinki
In the published work, more than 500 different clinical samples (including blood and CSF samples) from Finnish and Estonian patients were analyzed using MVA. The results provide a comprehensive, high-resolution overview of humoral immunity in various cases and report on the prognostic value of viral antibodies as novel blood biomarkers for predicting MS risk after the first ON episode
Source:
Estonian Research Council
Journal reference:
H. Sadam et al. (2021) Identification of two highly antigenic epitope markers that predict multiple sclerosis in patients with optic neuritis. EBioMedicine. doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103211.
