The use of vibrational spectroscopy to study the pathogenesis multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions

ABSTRACT

Spectroscopy techniques are valuable tools in biomedical research and have been used extensively in the study of disease. However, neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) have received little attention and the available spectroscopy studies are limited, both in overall numbers of patients studied and the disease samples considered. MS is a complex immune-mediated disease, with variable clinical courses and limited therapeutic options. This review aims to summarize current literature in the area, demonstrating how spectroscopy techniques can provide valuable information to inform and advance research into the most common neurological condition affecting young adults.

KEYWORDS:

• Multiple sclerosis
• normal-appearing white matter
• pathology
• spectroscopy

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the UK MS Society Tissue Bank for providing the tissue samples for preliminary FTIR and Raman spectroscopy analysis and Dr Rachel Waller for sectioning and staining the samples.