[Blood and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in MS/NMO]

Biomarkers have been developed for the purpose of diagnosis, analysis of the pathogenesis, monitoring disease activity and treatment response, selection of treatment, and prediction of prognosis and risk of disease development. In accordance with the development of MRI technique, the significance of imaging biomarkers has been increasing. Whereas, there are a few established and widely-used blood/CSF biomarkers except for oligoclonal IgG bands in MS, and anti-AQP4 antibody in NMO. These biomarkers are helpful especially for the diagnosis of atypical cases. The significance of blood/CSF biomarkers are expected to increase for the prediction of the disease, selection of appropriate therapy, prediction of disease susceptibility.