Scientists have recently discovered that disability accrual in multiple sclerosis (MS), often occurs independently of acute relapse activity. A key contributor to this clinical progression appears to be a specific subset of brain lesions known as “smoldering” or “chronic active” lesions (CALs). Patients harbouring these CALs often have a more aggressive disease. However, it remains unclear whether available MS drugs can effectively target and resolve these focal smoldering inflammatory lesions. 
Our recent findings show that CALs are highly heterogeneous, and that characterizing this pathological heterogeneity with MRI seems to improve our prediction of MS clinical outcomes. Building on these findings, this project will explore whether characterizing CALs heterogeneity could better explain the effect of available MS drugs on smoldering brain inflammation, potentially identifying a window of opportunity to target this process.

Support given by the Fund Jean and Marie Henkens-Lecloux, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation