Europa Press

La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, October 22, 2025, p. 6

Madrid. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF, United States) analyzed thousands of proteins present in the blood and, from this, created the clearest picture to date of how multiple sclerosis (MS) damages the brain of patients years before they experience symptoms and seek medical advice.

The study, published in Nature Medicineexplains for the first time the sequence of events that lead to the disease and its results open the door to new opportunities for the diagnosis, monitoring and, possibly, new treatments or even ways to prevent multiple sclerosis.

The research team analyzed more than 5,000 proteins in blood samples from 134 people with MS, both before and after their diagnosis. They were provided by the US Department of Defense Serum Repository, which stores samples from service members when they apply to join the military, which are available for study decades later, by which time some people may have developed MS.

Evidence of myelin injury was observed approximately seven years before symptomatic onset and preceded evidence of axonal injury by approximately one year. On the contrary, the involvement of astrocytes was only evident at clinical onset.

Among the numerous immune signaling proteins that were elevated in the early stage of the disease, interleukin 3 (IL-3) stood out. This plays an important role in this early phase, when the central nervous system suffers significant damage, but the patient does not yet perceive it. IL-3 is known to recruit immune cells to the brain and spinal cord, where they attack nerve cells.

Furthermore, people with multiple sclerosis with a previously reported distinctive autoantibody signature showed increased immune cell activity compared to those without it.

Researchers have identified about 50 proteins that portend future diseases and have filed a patent application for a diagnostic blood test that uses the top 21.