Citrullination in MS: Potential for a new diagnostic test

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory neurodegenerative disease, which predominantly affects the white matter of the central nervous system (CNS). It is the most common neurological disease in young adults with a mean age of onset of 30 years (Trapp and Nave, 2008). The disease is characterized by destruction of the myelin sheath, which insulates the axons of nerves, resulting in lesions of demyelinated axon fibres (Lassman, 2004). Within these lesions there is infi ltration of T and B lymphocytes and macrophages, as well as locally activated CNS resident cells, astrocytes and microglia (Musse and Harauz, 2007).