An RNA profile identifies two subsets of multiple sclerosis patients differing in disease activity.

Sci Transl Med
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

The multiple sclerosis (MS) patient population is highly heterogeneous in terms of disease course and treatment response. We used a transcriptional profile generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells to define the structure of an MS patient population. Two subsets of MS subjects (MS(A) and MS(B)) were found among 141 untreated subjects. We replicated this structure in two additional groups of MS subjects treated with one of the two first-line disease-modifying treatments in MS: glatiramer acetate (GA) (n = 94) and interferon-β (IFN-β) (n = 128). One of the two subsets of subjects (MS(A)) was distinguished by higher expression of molecules involved in lymphocyte signaling pathways. Further, subjects in this MS(A) subset were more likely to have a new inflammatory event while on treatment with either GA or IFN-β (P = 0.0077). We thus report a transcriptional signature that differentiates subjects with MS into two classes with different levels of disease activity.

Year of Publication
2012
Journal
Sci Transl Med
Volume
4
Issue
153
Pages
153ra131
Date Published
2012 Sep 26
ISSN
1946-6242
URL
DOI
10.1126/scitranslmed.3004186
PubMed ID
23019656
PubMed Central ID
PMC3753678
Links
Grant list
P01 AI039671 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
R01 AI091568 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
R01 NS067305 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States