Explore the pathophysiology of optic neuromyelitis - Nicolas Collongues, project start: 2017

The discovery of biomarkers in diseases of the optical neuromyelitis spectrum (NMOSD) has made it possible to identify several subgroups of patients with different physiopathological mechanisms.

Among them, anti-AQP4 antibodies define primary astrocytic damage while anti-MOG antibodies focus on initial myelin damage. A final subgroup, described as double negative, remains without known biomarkers. The purpose of this study is to analyze 20 patients in each subgroup to identify new biomarkers using two complementary approaches. The first is to look for the presence of antibodies on antigenic targets presented by different cell types and revealed by flow cytometry. The second approach will establish a metabolic "barcode" to classify these patients into homogeneous groups. These two approaches will lead to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, the identification of new diagnostic biomarkers and the identification of new therapeutic targets.