Hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) is a well-established pathological hallmark of Alzheimer disease (AD) and other tauopathies, and new research published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders adds to growing evidence of altered tau phosphorylation in multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings suggest that levels of p-tau in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) could be linked to the disease course in MS.

“Neuroaxonal loss in MS is suggested to be driven by neuroinflammation and chronic microglial activation, which have also been implicated in the progression of tau pathology and the pathogenesis of AD,” explains corresponding author Andreja Emeršič. “Previous findings of p-tau aggregates in progressive MS and tau seeding in frozen brain tissue from patients with MS prompted us to explore several biomarkers of tau phosphorylation in the CSF of patients with different MS disease phenotypes.”