The preliminary positive effects of B cell depletion
therapy in
multiple sclerosis (MS) have renewed interest in a potential role of B cells and
autoantibodies in the MS disease process. Regardless of a possible pathogenic role of the humoral immune response in MS, the analysis of
autoantibodies as disease markers is valuable. Despite intense research, there is no known MS-associated antibody specificity that can individually discriminate between MS patients and controls. Due to the overlap in
autoantibody profiles in
autoimmune diseases, and due to the complexity of MS, multiplex
autoantibody profiling approaches are needed to generate a panel of MS-associated
autoantibodies with high combined sensitivity and specificity for MS. In recent years, several multiplexing approaches have been applied in MS
autoantibody profiling with promising results regarding the generation of a so-called MS-specific
autoantibody fingerprint. We also recently applied a high-throughput
autoantibody profiling technique for MS cerebrospinal fluid resulting in the identification of a novel panel of 8 antigenic targets with 45% sensitivity and 86% specificity for the disease. Identification of MS-specific
autoantibody specificities is important for the development of diagnostic and prognostic markers for MS. Moreover, it can provide more knowledge regarding underlying MS disease processes and novel therapeutic targets.