Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) remains a widely used pre-clinical animal model to study
multiple sclerosis (MS). Blood-based
cytokines and CNS
biomarkers are increasingly used as predictors of neurodegeneration, disease activity, and disability in MS. However, there exists variation in animal model characterization and disease course across animal strains/studies due to understudied confounding factors, limiting the utility of these
biomarkers to predict disease activity in EAE. In this study, we investigated the profile of blood-based analytes including,
cytokines (
IL6, IL17, IL12p70,
IL10, and TNFα) and neural markers (NFL and GFAP) in the plasma of relapsing-remitting (RR) (SJL) and chronic (B6) models of EAE during different phases (acute, chronic, and progressive) of disease course using ultrasensitive single molecule array technology (SIMoA, Quanterix), which can detect ultra-low levels of a wide range of analytes. NFL showed a substantial increase during post-disease onset at peak, chronic, and progressive phases in both RR SJL and chronic B6 models of EAE. The increase was markedly pronounced in the chronic B6 model. The leakage of GFAP from CNS into the periphery was also higher after disease onset in EAE, however, it was highest during the acute phase in B6. Out of all
cytokines, only
IL10 showed consistently lower levels in both models of EAE along the disease duration. We report that NFL, GFAP, and
IL10 may be more useful predictors of disease activity and neurological outcome in EAE, which would make them potential candidates for use as
surrogate markers for preclinical testing of therapeutic interventions in MS.