Biomarkers of disease course and prognosis in multiple sclerosis patients

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorder of the CNS. The course of the disease is highly variable among different patients. Even though there has been great progress in the diagnostics of MS in recent decades, we still lack a reliable diagnostic tool that would distinguish between a relatively benign course and a highly active, severe form of the disease. To a certain measure, it is possible to predict future prognosis based on clinical manifestations of the disease and/or the nature of the lesions seen in MRI. Currently, a search for new substances capable of better prediction of the disease course even from the onset of the disease is taking place. More accurate disease stratification should allow for administration of a treatment more appropriate to the clinical type of the disease. Here, we present an up-to-date summary of potential serum, peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of the MS course. In greater detail we present the most prominent ones - neurofilaments, chitinase 3-like proteins, vitamin D and microRNA.