Remote biomarkers in MS

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    The utility of remote sampling biomarkers of disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis

  • IRAS ID

    299941

  • Contact name

    Ruth Dobson

  • Contact email

    ruth.dobson@qmul.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Queen Mary University London

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 6 months, 22 days

  • Research summary

    This project will study the use of biomarkers that can be measured on a fingerprick blood sample in people with MS. CSF neurofilament light (NfL) is routinely used as a marker of disease activity, and there is increasing experience with plasma NfL. However, the variation in plasma NfL over time in a stable population is not well established.

    This study will compare NfL in CSF, plasma and fingerprick sample at baseline, where patients are having CSF NfL measured as part of routine clinical care. Participants will then be asked to provide fingerprick samples every 2 months over a 6 month period along with a patient reported measure of MS impact (MSIS-29) and disability score (webEDSS). All of these assessments will be done by the patient in their home and posted to researchers.

    With this information, researchers will be able to better understand the relationship between CSF, plasma and fingerprick levels of NfL, and understand how NfL changes over time.

  • REC name

    North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    21/NE/0153

  • Date of REC Opinion

    4 Aug 2021

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion