Patent ID: 7879568

Claim:
An in vitro method, to detect a demyelinating disease in a subject, or to determine the status or severity of said disease in a subject, or to monitor the effect of a therapy administered to a subject who presents said disease, said method comprising conducting a procedure selected from among Procedure A and Procedure B, wherein the procedure is conducted on a sample of the subject selected from among samples of blood, serum, plasma, urine, saliva, excrement, cerebrospinal fluid and peritoneal liquid, wherein Procedure A comprises: a) quantifying the level of expression of a nucleic acid in the sample from said subject, wherein said nucleic acid is selected from the nucleic acid encoding the subtype 1 glutamate transporter (EAAT1), the nucleic acid encoding the subtype 2 glutamate transporter (EAAT2), and the nucleic acid encoding the epidermal growth factor (EGF), and any combination thereof; and b) comparing said level with that from a control sample; wherein an increment in said level with respect to the level in the control sample indicates the presence of a demyelinating disease; and wherein Procedure B comprises: a) quantifying the protein level in the sample from said subject, wherein said protein is selected from the subtype 1 glutamate transporter (EAAT1), the subtype 2 glutamate transporter (EAAT2), the epidermal growth factor (EGF), and any combination thereof; and b) comparing said level with that from a control sample; wherein an increment in said level with respect to the level in the control sample indicates the presence of a demyelinating disease.