%0 Journal Article
%T A Blood Test for the Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.
%A Giuliano P
%A La Rosa G
%A Capozzi S
%A Cassano E
%A Damiano S
%A Habetswallner F
%A Iodice R
%A Marra M
%A Pavone LM
%A Quarantelli M
%A Vitelli G
%A Santillo M
%A Paternò R
%J Int J Mol Sci
%V 25
%N 3
%D 2024 Jan 30
%M 38338973
%F 6.208
%R 10.3390/ijms25031696
%X Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune chronic disease characterized by inflammation and demyelination of the central nervous system (CNS). Despite numerous studies conducted, valid biomarkers enabling a definitive diagnosis of MS are not yet available. The aim of our study was to identify a marker from a blood sample to ease the diagnosis of MS. In this study, since there is evidence connecting the serotonin pathway to MS, we used an ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) to detect serum MS-specific auto-antibodies (auto-Ab) against the extracellular loop 1 (ECL-1) of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor subtype 2A (5-HT2A). We utilized an ELISA format employing poly-D-lysine as a pre-coating agent. The binding of 208 serum samples from controls, both healthy and pathological, and of 104 serum samples from relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients was tested. We observed that the serum-binding activity in control cohort sera, including those with autoimmune and neurological diseases, was ten times lower compared to the RRMS patient cohort (p = 1.2 × 10-47), with a sensitivity and a specificity of 98% and 100%, respectively. These results show that in the serum of patients with MS there are auto-Ab against the serotonin receptor type 2A which can be successfully used in the diagnosis of MS due to their high sensitivity and specificity.