title: Body fluid biomarkers in multiple sclerosis: how far we have come and how they could affect the clinic now and in the future.
abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, which affects over 2.5 million people worldwide. Although MS has been extensively studied, many challenges still remain in regards to treatment, diagnosis and prognosis. Typically, prognosis and individual responses to treatment are evaluated by clinical tests such as the expanded disability status scale, MRI and presence of oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid. However, none of these measures correlates strongly with treatment efficacy or disease progression across heterogeneous patient populations and subtypes of MS. Numerous studies over the past decades have attempted to identify sensitive and specific biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment efficacy of MS. The objective of this article is to review and discuss the current literature on body fluid biomarkers in MS, including research on potential biomarker candidates in the areas of miRNA, mRNA, lipids and proteins.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas San Antonio - Biology, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Itay
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Raphael
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Stuve
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Haskins
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Forsthuber
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008055:Lipids; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism*; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D008055:Lipids; D035683:MicroRNAs; D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: autoimmunity; biomarker; experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; multiple sclerosis; prognosis; therapy