To the editor:

The recently published news report titled “Israeli researchers eye simple test for multiple sclerosis” (Nat. Med. 10, 1147; 2004) correctly states that “an inexpensive, easily obtained barometer for monitoring disease activity” in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is highly needed. But it goes on the say that most methods are either too expensive or not sensitive enough. This is not correct: indeed, an extensive research effort over the past ten years at the University of Florence, Italy, in collaboration with the Italian start-up company CSF Srl, has already yielded a prototype blood test for monitoring MS disease activity.

This multiple sclerosis test was described in an international patent application1 and in several communications in international symposia2,3,4. It is a simple immunoenzymatic assay based on a designed synthetic glycosylated peptide, which characterizes specific autoantibodies that are present in the serum of MS patients. The glycosylated antigen was instrumental in isolating antibodies (specific for the sugar) from patients' sera, and these autoantibodies were shown to recognize myelin and oligodendrocyte antigens in brain sections by immunohistochemistry. Finally, a large, unpublished validation study, conducted in collaboration with Italian neurological clinical units, showed that the test detects the presence of autoantibodies in the sera of a cohort of MS patients.

The synthetic glycosylated peptide is thus an inexpensive and commercially available tool for monitoring disease activity and for the detection of autoantibodies as biomarkers of MS.