MS and kidney failure

[Proteus]

How does multiple sclerosis lead to kidney failure?

[GDG]

I don't know if that has been fully determined (after all, the cause of MS has not been fully determined yet). L.K. Peterson et al., "Cross-reactive myelin antibody induces renal pathology" Autoimmunity (2008) 41:526-36, suggest that autoantibodies that bind myelin also cross-react with kidney proteins.

"The renal involvement reported in MS is believed to occur as a side effect of nephrotoxic drugs or neurogenic bladder. Our results demonstrate that an autoimmune response against myelin could induce pathologic changes in the kidney and may help explain renal changes reported in patients with progressive MS."