Department of Neurology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Medical Center and College of Medicine, Chang-Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Department of Neurology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Medical Center and College of Medicine, Chang-Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Clin Chim Acta. 2015 Feb 2;440:64-71. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2014.11.004. Epub 2014 Nov 7.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an acquired, heterogeneous inflammatory disorder, which is characterized by recurrent optic neuritis and longitudinally extensive spinal cord lesions. The discovery of the serum autoantibody marker, anti-aquaporin 4 (anti-AQP4) antibody, revolutionizes our understanding of pathogenesis of NMO. In addition to anti-AQP4 antibody, other biomarkers for NMO are also reported. These candidate biomarkers are particularly involved in T helper (Th)17 and astrocytic damages, which play a critical role in the development of NMO lesions. Among them, IL-6 in the peripheral blood is associated with anti-AQP4 antibody production. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in CSF demonstrates good correlations with clinical severity of NMO relapses. Detecting these useful biomarkers may be useful in the diagnosis and evaluation of disease activity of NMO. Development of compounds targeting these biomarkers may provide novel therapeutic strategies for NMO. This article will review the related biomarker studies in NMO and discuss the potential therapeutics targeting these biomarkers.
视神经脊髓炎（NMO）是一种获得性、异质性炎症性疾病，其特征为复发性视神经炎和长节段横贯性脊髓炎。血清自身抗体标志物抗水通道蛋白 4（anti-AQP4）抗体的发现，彻底改变了我们对 NMO 发病机制的认识。除了抗 AQP4 抗体，NMO 的其他生物标志物也有报道。这些候选生物标志物特别涉及辅助性 T 细胞（Th）17 和星形胶质细胞损伤，在 NMO 病变的发展中起着关键作用。其中，外周血中的白细胞介素 6（IL-6）与抗 AQP4 抗体的产生有关。CSF 中的神经胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）与 NMO 复发的临床严重程度具有良好的相关性。检测这些有用的生物标志物可能有助于 NMO 的诊断和疾病活动评估。针对这些生物标志物的化合物的开发可能为 NMO 提供新的治疗策略。本文将综述 NMO 相关的生物标志物研究，并讨论针对这些生物标志物的潜在治疗方法。
