Protective Effect of Multiple Sclerosis Against Alzheimer's Disease: Study - Video

The study published in the Annals of Neurology suggests that individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) are significantly less likely to exhibit the molecular characteristics associated with Alzheimer’s disease compared to those without multiple sclerosis.

This finding opens up a new research path for exploring potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Researchers, through decades of treating patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) an immune-mediated disorder that affects the central nervous system discovered that despite their patients living long enough to be at risk for Alzheimer’s disease or having a family history of the neurodegenerative condition, they were not developing it.

Researchers enlisted 100 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) to undergo a blood test, with 11 of these patients also receiving PET scans.

The findings from these multiple sclerosis patients were compared to those from a control group of 300 individuals without multiple sclerosis but similar in age, genetic risk for Alzheimer’s, and cognitive decline. The study revealed that the rate of amyloid pathology was 50% lower in the multiple sclerosis patients compared to their matched counterparts, according to the blood test results.

The connection between amyloid accumulation and the cognitive decline characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease remains unclear, though the buildup of plaques is generally considered an early event in the biological process leading to cognitive impairment.

Additionally, the researchers discovered that patients with a more typical MS history—considering factors like age of onset, severity, and overall disease progression—were less likely to have amyloid plaque buildup in their brains compared to those with atypical MS presentations. This finding suggests that certain aspects of the MS condition itself may offer some protection against Alzheimer's disease.

Reference: Brier, M. R., Schindler, S. E., Salter, A., Perantie, D., Shelley, N., Judge, B., Keefe, S., Kirmess, K. M., Verghese, P. B., Yarasheski, K. E., Venkatesh, V., Raji, C. A., Gordon, B. A., Bateman, R. J., Morris, J. C., Naismith, R. T., Holtzman, D. M., Benzinger, T. L. S., & Cross, A. H. (2024). Unexpected low rate of amyloid-β pathology in multiple sclerosis patients. Annals of Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.27027