Glutamate and Nitric Oxide as biomarkers for disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis

Abstract Background Despite multiple diagnostic tests, multiple sclerosis (MS) remains a clinical diagnosis with supportive paraclinical evidence. Objective To measure glutamate and nitric oxide serum levels in MS patients during and in between relapses to assess their potential role as biomarkers of disease activity and relapses. Subjects and Methods This cross sectional study was carried out on 70 MS patients and 40 age and sex matched apparently healthy controls. MS patients were divided into 2 groups; group 1 that included thirty MS patients without history of relapse within the last 3 months prior to recruitment and group 2 that included forty MS patients with history of relapse within the last 30 day prior to recruitment. Results Serum glutamate was significantly higher in group 2 (24.67 ± 9.58 μg/ml) compared to group 1(12.5 ± 4.9 μg/ml) (P value Conclusion Serum glutamate and nitric oxide can be potential easily-accessible biomarkers of disease activity and relapses in MS patients.