Skip to main content
Log in

Multiple sclerosis

Inverse association between age and inflammatory disease activity in multiple sclerosis

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Neurology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Two studies have confirmed previous observations that an inverse relationship exists between chronological age and focal white-matter inflammatory activity in individuals with multiple sclerosis, which could underlie the relative ineffectiveness of traditional disease-modifying therapies in older individuals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  1. Rae-Grant, A. et al. Comprehensive systematic review summary: disease-modifying therapies for adults with multiple sclerosis: report of the Guideline Development, Dissemination, and Implementation Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology 90, 789–800 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Weideman, A. M., Tapia-Maltos, M. A., Johnson, K., Greenwood, M. & Bielekova, B. Meta-analysis of the age-dependent efficacy of multiple sclerosis treatments. Front. Neurol. 8, 577 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Segal, B. M. CNS chemokines, cytokines, and dendritic cells in autoimmune demyelination. J. Neurol. Sci. 228, 210–214 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Tortorella, C. et al. Age-related gadolinium-enhancement of MRI brain lesions in multiple sclerosis. J. Neurol. Sci. 239, 95–99 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Tremlett, H., Zhao, Y., Joseph, J. & Devonshire, V., the UBCMS Clinic Neurologists. Relapses in multiple sclerosis are age- and time-dependent. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 79, 1368–1374 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Lassmann, H. Pathogenic mechanisms associated with different clinical courses of multiple sclerosis. Front. Immunol. 9, 3116 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Strijbis, E. M. et al. Association of age and inflammatory disease activity in the pivotal natalizumab clinical trials in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2022-330887 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Coerver, E. et al. Association between age and inflammatory disease activity on magnetic resonance imaging in relapse onset multiple sclerosis during long-term follow-up. Eur. J. Neurol. https://doi.org/10.1111/ene.15862 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bsteh, G. et al. Discontinuation of disease-modifying therapies in multiple sclerosis-clinical outcome and prognostic factors. Mult. Scler. 23, 1241–1248 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Bebo, B. et al. The economic burden of multiple sclerosis in the United States: estimate of direct and indirect costs. Neurology 98, e1810–e1817 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benjamin M. Segal.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Segal, B.M. Inverse association between age and inflammatory disease activity in multiple sclerosis. Nat Rev Neurol 19, 577–578 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-023-00844-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-023-00844-9

  • Springer Nature Limited

Navigation