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Researchers from Australia report that the amount of molecules in a sequence of chemical reactions called the kynurenine pathway differs between people with MS and healthy controls, and between people with relapsing-remitting and progressive forms of MS. The kynurenine pathway is activated by chronic inflammation, and its activation may be involved in nerve damage and MS progression.  The kynurenine pathway has also been implicated in other neurological and psychiatric disorders. The MS-specific findings, and the potential use of the kynurenine pathway in a diagnostic test, will need to be explored in additional studies.

This work was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia. The researchers used several repositories to complete these experiments – the Accelerated Cure Project for MS, The Human Brain and Spinal Fluid Resource Center (which is sponsored by the National MS Society, among others), and the Tasmanian MS Longitudinal Study.

Read more from MS Research Australia

View the open-access paper in Scientific Reports

Finding biomarkers – read more about the search