Unravelling mechanisms of progressive MS

Summary

MS is the most common cause of neurological disability in young adults. It is characterised by the development of lesions or spots of inflammation in the brain. While existing treatments radically reduce the risk of new lesions forming, it does not fully arrest disease progression, suggesting that different disease activities are going on in the brain and spinal cord.

Clinical studies suggest that multiple mechanisms can potentially be implicated in the progression of the disease, particularly when MS progresses into secondary progressive MS (SPMS). It was suggested that chronic inflammation may make some of the nerve fibres more vulnerable to physiological stress. In addition to the damage at the site of lesions, these spots may induce damage in regions of the brain that are distant. However, clinical studies evaluating the role of these in progression of physical and cognitive disability in people with SPMS are lacking.

Therefore, the primary objective of the current proposal is to establish the role and predictive power of chronic lesions, “slow burning” inflammation and degeneration in progression of secondary progressive MS (SPMS). The proposed research will use state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques, partly developed in our lab, to examine disease progression.