Multiple sclerosis siblings with cerebrospinal fluid immunopathy but without any indication of neuronal damage

In a previous study, we found that nine of the 47 siblings to multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with a normal neurologic examination carry an intrathecal oligoclonal immunopathy with limited specificity, a condition we termed MS immunopathic trait. Here we searched for neurological dysfunction with increased sensitivity.

We used high-pass resolution perimetry, which reveals visual pathway lesions by their impaired neural effective capacity (EC) in early MS cases even without optic neuritis.

These nine individuals with MS immunopathic trait did not differ from nine healthy controls with normal cerebrospinal fluid regarding their EC.

This is further evidence that a group of MS immunopathic trait individuals, siblings to MS patients, are essentially free from the central nervous system functional loss typically found in MS.