anti-MOG antibody and of several other antibodies that have been found to react with components of myelin in 27 patients with slower-moving MS, 49 patients with the progressive form, and 18 persons without MS.
“We show that it appears in the progressive form from the beginning,” Genain says. “In these cases, levels of only one antibody, anti-MOG, are elevated. My interpretation, very cautious, is that the anti-MOG antibody may cause the destruction in the progressive form. In the secondary form, it may be a marker of a general process of nerve cell destruction, but this has not been proven experimentally.”
The anti-MOG antibody, or the immune system B-cells that make them, could be a target for MS treatment, Genain says.
“We are designing a human study of that, and we are hoping that it could begin next year,” he adds.
The test of anti-MOG levels used in the study could also be applied to diagnosis, Genain says. “This appears to be the first simple, reliable and inexpensive blood test that correlates so strongly with clinical parameters in studies of MS,” he says. “Its use, in combination with other disease markers, would significantly advance our understanding of what causes the different forms of MS and how they should be treated.”
The finding “definitely enlarges an important area of research,” says Dr. John W. Rose, a professor of neurology at the University of Utah and a spokesman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Human studies of