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Gene-expression signatures: biomarkers toward diagnosing multiple sclerosis

Genes & Immunity volume 13, pages 146–154 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Identification of biomarkers contributing to disease diagnosis, classification or prognosis could be of considerable utility. For example, primary methods to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) include magnetic resonance imaging and detection of immunological abnormalities in cerebrospinal fluid. We determined whether gene-expression differences in blood discriminated MS subjects from comparator groups, and identified panels of ratios that performed with varying degrees of accuracy depending upon complexity of comparator groups. High levels of overall accuracy were achieved by comparing MS with homogeneous comparator groups. Overall accuracy was compromised when MS was compared with a heterogeneous comparator group. Results, validated in independent cohorts, indicate that gene-expression differences in blood accurately exclude or include a diagnosis of MS and suggest that these approaches may provide clinically useful prediction of MS.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US National Institutes of Health Grant AI053984.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Department, ArthroChip, LLC, Franklin, TN, USA

    J T Tossberg

  2. Department of Mathematics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    P S Crooke

  3. Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA

    M A Henderson & T M Aune

  4. Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA

    S Sriram

  5. Department of Neurology, University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    D Mrelashvili

  6. Department of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    S Chitnis

  7. Department of Neurology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    C Polman

  8. Department of Pathology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    S Vosslamber & C L Verweij

  9. Department of Medicine, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA

    N J Olsen

  10. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA

    T M Aune

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  1. J T Tossberg
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  2. P S Crooke
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  3. M A Henderson
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  7. C Polman
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  8. S Vosslamber
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  9. C L Verweij
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  10. N J Olsen
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  11. T M Aune
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to T M Aune.

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Competing interests

TMA and NJO are co-owners of ArthroChip.

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Tossberg, J., Crooke, P., Henderson, M. et al. Gene-expression signatures: biomarkers toward diagnosing multiple sclerosis. Genes Immun 13, 146–154 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2011.66

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2011.66

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