Is CSF neurofilament light chain measurement relevant for MS

MS is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS in which an autoimmune etiology targeting CNS myelin is implicated. Tremendous efforts to search for biomarkers that potentially reflect the inflammatory process in the CNS have been made, although MRI was the only reliable clinical method for that purpose until recent findings showing the usefulness of the measurement of neurofilaments. Neurofilament release is assumed to be a consequence of axonal damage, with some components appearing in the CSF and then in blood at extremely low concentrations.1 An ELISA for CSF neurofilament light chain protein (NfL) has shown to give consistent results as a marker for MS disease activity, suggesting it may be useful as a measure of MS treatment response.1