Neurodegeneration and its potential markers in the diagnosing of secondary progressive MS, 2023, Aleksandra Pogoda-Wesołowska et al

A review:

Approximately 70% of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients will develop secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) within 10–15 years. This progression is characterized by a gradual decline in neurological functionality and increasing limitations of daily activities.
Growing evidence suggests that both inflammation and neurodegeneration are associated with various pathological processes throughout the development of MS; therefore, to delay disease progression, it is critical to initiate disease-modifying therapy as soon as it is diagnosed.

Currently, a diagnosis of SPMS requires a retrospective assessment of physical disability exacerbation, usually over the previous 6–12 months, which results in a delay of up to 3 years. Hence, there is a need to identify reliable and objective biomarkers for predicting and defining SPMS conversion. This review presents current knowledge of such biomarkers in the context of neurodegeneration associated with MS, and SPMS conversion.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2023.1210091/full

 

"A systematic review and meta-analysis by Bai et al. (2019) clarified a panel of cytokines that exhibit great potential to be used as biomarkers for MS. It was found that CXCL13 was consistently increased in both blood and CSF samples, thus allowing MS patients to be distinguished from healthy donors, and for disease progression to be evaluated (Bai et al., 2019). A more recent study including patients with the radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS), CIS, RRMS, and progressive MS found that CSF/serum CXCL13 may serve as a single predictor in MS; indeed CXCL13 can be considered even more sensitive, specific, and predictive than more well-known OCB and NfL (DiSano et al., 2020)."

As for neurodegnerative markers, CXCL13 is also considered a marker in neurosyphilis and neurborreliosis:


https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/med-2020-0204/html?lang=en

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5580331/