The researchers discovered that iron levels in MS patients are increasing in gray matter areas of the brain that are responsible for relaying messages. High iron levels in a specific “relay area” were noted in patients who had physical disabilities linked with MS. Iron is very critical for normal function of the brain and the amount of iron is a tightly controlled system by the brain tissue. The discovery suggests there is a problem with the control system. Too much iron can be toxic to brain cells and high levels of iron in the brain have been associated with various neurodegenerative diseases. However, up to now, no tests have been able to quantify or measure iron in living brain.

Drs. Alan Wilman and Gregg Blevins, co-lead investigators from the faculty of medicine and dentistry at the University of Alberta (Canada), used a new MRI technique to quantitatively measure iron in the brain to gain a better understanding of what the disease is doing in the brains of those who were recently diagnosed with MS. Twenty-two individuals with MS took part in the study, along with 22 individuals who did not have the condition.

“In MS, there is a real desire and need to get a good idea of the state and progression of the disease,” noted Dr. Blevins, who is both a practicing neurologist and a researcher from the d of neurology. “When patients with MS currently get an MRI, the typical measures we look at may not give us a good idea of the nature and state of MS. Using this new MRI method would give physicians a new way to measure the effectiveness of new treatments for patients with MS by watching the impact on iron levels. This opens up the idea of having a new biomarker, a new way of looking at the disease over time, watching the disease, seeing the progression or lack of progression of the disease, a new way to track it.”

Dr. Wilman, a researcher and physicist in the department of biomedical engineering, reported that the new MRI method might be a better assessment for disease progression than strictly looking at number and frequency of relapses. “This is a new quantitative marker that gives us more insight into MS. We can get a better handle on where patients are at. In terms of clinical symptoms, they may be fine for quite a while, then they have a relapse, then they’re fine for quite a while. Well, the time when they are actually fine, they may not actually be alright. The disease may be progressing, but there is just no marker right now that shows that. We think the biomarker we have discovered could be an answer. People in the medical research community are very excited about this discovery, because it could be a new way of looking at the disease.”

The new MRI method, which uses a machine that is 90,000 times the strength of the earth’s magnetic field, will provide clinicians with more detail and information about the impact of MS on the brain, clues that physicians and researchers did not have before. “This could be a very early marker of MS. We’d like to see this new method used with all patients who have MS. Ultimately, this discovery is a great example of translational research,” Dr. Wilman commented.

The researchers hope to see this new MRI method used in clinical trials for patients with MS within the next one to two years, then to be regularly used by physicians within five years. Drs. Blevins and Wilman both recognize the MS patients who took part in the study. “If patients weren’t so willing to help, we couldn’t do any of this,” said Dr. Wilman.

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