title: Increased levels of cell-free mitochondrial DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can act as damage-associated molecular pattern molecule (DAMP) and initiate an inflammatory response. We hypothesized that the concentration of mtDNA might reflect inflammatory activity in multiple sclerosis and investigated therefore levels of cell-free mitochondrial DNA in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Significantly higher levels of mtDNA were found in patients compared to controls and there was an inverse correlation between disease duration and mtDNA concentration. Our study suggests that mitochondria can be involved early in multiple sclerosis, but whether this is as an initiator of the inflammatory response or part of its maintenance is unclear. Further, our study suggests that changes in mtDNA may provide a novel marker for early disease activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; KG Jebsen Centre of MS Research, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine (K1), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Kristin N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Varhaug
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; KG Jebsen Centre of MS Research, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine (K1), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Christian A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Vedeler
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; KG Jebsen Centre of MS Research, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Norwegian MS-Registry & Biobank, Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine (K1), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Kjell-Morten
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Myhr
authors.affiliation: KG Jebsen Centre of MS Research, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Norwegian MS-Registry & Biobank, Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Jan Harald
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Aarseth
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine (K1), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Charalampos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tzoulis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine (K1), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: laurence.bindoff@nevro.uib.no.
authors.forename: Laurence A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Bindoff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Cerebrospinal fluid; Mitochondrial-DNA; Multiple sclerosis