Abstract

Validation of miRNA as Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarkers for Multiple Sclerosis

Roopali Gandhi, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Head of MS Biomarkers, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by progressive neuronal demyelination, resulting in varying degrees of disability over time. MS is usually diagnosed based on the clinical symptoms and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) analysis. There is an urgent need to find blood-based biomarker for MS disease diagnosis, disease stage, and to study treatment response. Following a two-year discovery and validation phase, we performed a multi-center international validation study aiming to investigate the potential use of miRNA expression as non-invasive biomarkers for MS disease diagnosis, disease stage, and association with MS clinical parameters. We found miRNAs that were differentially expressed in MS patients and associated with its clinical parameters. These miRNAs of interest exhibit clear biological significance in MS pathophysiology and are promising candidates for further exploration of their potential use in developing predictive diagnostic, prognostic, or therapeutic tools for MS.