Autoantibodies as diagnostic biomarkers for the detection and subtyping of multiple sclerosis

•Autoantibodies are useful blood-based biomarkers for the diagnosis of MS.•Autoantibody biomarkers can also be used to distinguish different subtypes of MS.•Autoantibody biomarkers may be useful to monitor the progression of MS.•MS biomarkers can distinguish MS from non-neurodegenerative diseases.•We describe the first blood-based test for the diagnosis and subtyping of MS.

The goal of this preliminary proof-of-concept study was to use human protein microarrays to identify blood-based autoantibody biomarkers capable of diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS). Using sera from 112 subjects, including 51 MS subjects, autoantibody biomarkers effectively differentiated MS subjects from age- and gender-matched normal and breast cancer controls with 95.0% and 100% overall accuracy, but not from subjects with Parkinson's disease. Autoantibody biomarkers were also useful in distinguishing subjects with the relapsing-remitting form of MS from those with the secondary progressive subtype. These results demonstrate that autoantibodies can be used as noninvasive blood-based biomarkers for the detection and subtyping of MS.

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