Unlike Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) or Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS) in which patients experience a remission or lessening of their symptoms, Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS) is characterized by progression of disability from onset, with no, or only occasional and minor, remissions and improvements. The age of onset for the primary progressive subtype is later than for the relapsing-remitting, but similar to mean the age of progression between the relapsing-remitting and the secondary progressive - around 40 years of age. Because of its prevalence, RRMS represents the largest basis for basic and clinical MS research. Therefore, drugs have primarily been developed to slow disease progression in RRMS and SPMS patients. No treatment has been proven successful in treating primary progressive MS.
The MURDOCK-MS collection represents a unique opportunity to carry out detailed biomarker research on PPMS patients and, to the knowledge of this investigator and his colleagues in the field, would represent an exceptional cohort that is not available elsewhere in the US or the rest of the world. Aside from first in disease sampling, the serial, biannual collection of samples from PPMS patients would not only permit the identification of 'omic profiles that can be compared and contrasted to those from RRMS patients in a parallel study, but it would also allow the generation of 'omic markers of disease progression. This progressive etiology would provide valuable insight into PPMS development and may also shed light on SPMS progression.
