BODY-FLUID MARKERS TO MONITOR MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS - THE ASSAYS AND THECHALLENGES

The need for reliable markers of disease activity in multiple sclerosi s (MS) to better guide basic research, diagnosis, treatment, and monit oring of therapy is well-recognized A recent European Charcot Foundati on Symposium (Body fluid markers for course and activity of disease in multiple sclerosis (Madrid, Spain, October 2-4, 1997) organized by th e European Charcot Foundation and the Fundacion Espanola de Esclerosis Multiple (the Spanish Multiple Sclerosis Foundation) brought together experts in the field to review the state of the art for the technolog y measuring markers in body fluids. An array of different approaches w as presented to measure a wide diversity of classic and novel marker m olecules, including cytokines, adhesion molecules, myelin compounds, a nd Fee antibody light chains, in either blood, urine, or cerebrospinal fluid. Here, recent progress in these approaches is assessed in the c ontext of distinct pathophysiological stages of the disease, the requi rements which such molecules and assays should ideally meet, and the p ractical and conceptual challenges which they face. Recommendations fo r further improvements ore described.