Understanding Tissue Damage

• changed the way researchers think about MS
• discovered that unique antibody patterns are associated with different lesion patterns, which could lead to a blood test to help inform treatment decisions
• made significant gains in understanding when lesions form and how tissue is damaged, opening up new possibilities for strategies to stop that damage

Researchers funded by the Society reported that a specific type of nerve cell called “projection neurons” – which normally facilitate communication between different areas of the brain – are especially vulnerable to damage in the cortex (the outer region of the brain, associated with disease progression and cognitive impairment).

Researchers reported greater tissue loss in particular areas of the brain and spinal cord in a small, three-year MRI  study comparing MS-related changes in African Americans and Caucasian Americans. This study, although small, adds to the body of work exploring why Black people may experience a more severe MS course than white people. It also underscores why it’s important for  African Americans with MS to participate in clinical trials of therapies that might protect or repair brain and spinal cord tissues, to detect whether there are differences in treatment response between people of difference races and ethnicities.