Novel Nanosensor Array for Detection of Volatile Biomarkers From Skin in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic neurological disease affecting young adults, with onset usually at the age 20-40 years. The disease is characterized by two main phenotypes: Relapse-Remitting MS (RR-MS) and Primary Progressive MS (PP-MS). RR-MS is the most common type of disease, for long-term management of the disease patients are treated with immunomodulatory drugs (IMD) which reduce disease activity. Response to therapy varies among patients. Presently there are no biomarkers available for diagnosis and routine follow-up of MS. Many MS patients suffer from unexpected relapsing episodes that influence dramatically their mental and physical conditions, with high stress levels, tremors, motoric disabilities, blindness and more. Therefore, early target treatment in relapse episodes is crucial, yet sufficient tools for predicting and identifying early symptoms of an upcoming relapse episode are not available. The investigators have most recently shown that breath VOCs can be used to classify among MS and non-MS patients. The major aims of the current proposal is to study the plausibility of skin based VOCs as biomarkers for MS diagnosis and To Identify and characterize skin-based VOCs as biomarkers of the clinical relapse and disease activity.