TY - JOUR N1 - This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). See http://ivyspring.com/terms for full terms and conditions. IS - 16 SP - 4477 VL - 8 JF - Theranostics A1 - Herman, S A1 - Khoonsari, PE A1 - Tolf, A A1 - Steinmetz, J A1 - Zetterberg, H A1 - Ĺkerfeldt, T A1 - Jakobsson, P-J A1 - Larsson, A A1 - Spjuth, O A1 - Burman, J A1 - Kultima, K SN - 1838-7640 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.7150/thno.26249 TI - Integration of magnetic resonance imaging and protein and metabolite CSF measurements to enable early diagnosis of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis EP - 4490 AV - public Y1 - 2018/// KW - biomarker KW - data integration KW - disease progression KW - metabolomics KW - multiple sclerosis ID - discovery10056834 N2 - Molecular networks in neurological diseases are complex. Despite this fact, contemporary biomarkers are in most cases interpreted in isolation, leading to a significant loss of information and power. We present an analytical approach to scrutinize and combine information from biomarkers originating from multiple sources with the aim of discovering a condensed set of biomarkers that in combination could distinguish the progressive degenerative phenotype of multiple sclerosis (SPMS) from the relapsing-remitting phenotype (RRMS). Methods: Clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were integrated with data from protein and metabolite measurements of cerebrospinal fluid, and a method was developed to sift through all the variables to establish a small set of highly informative measurements. This prospective study included 16 SPMS patients, 30 RRMS patients and 10 controls. Protein concentrations were quantitated with multiplexed fluorescent bead-based immunoassays and ELISA. The metabolome was recorded using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Clinical follow-up data of the SPMS patients were used to assess disease progression and development of disability. Results: Eleven variables were in combination able to distinguish SPMS from RRMS patients with high confidence superior to any single measurement. The identified variables consisted of three MRI variables: the size of the spinal cord and the third ventricle and the total number of T1 hypointense lesions; six proteins: galectin-9, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-?), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-?), soluble CD40L (sCD40L) and platelet-derived growth factor AA (PDGF-AA); and two metabolites: 20?-dihydrocortisol (20?-DHF) and indolepyruvate. The proteins myelin basic protein (MBP) and macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC), as well as the metabolites 20?-DHF and 5,6-dihydroxyprostaglandin F1a (5,6-DH-PGF1), were identified as potential biomarkers of disability progression. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates, in a limited but well-defined and data-rich cohort, the importance and value of combining multiple biomarkers to aid diagnostics and track disease progression. ER -