Interferon beta (IFN-b) has shown to be of benefit for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). The development of new therapeutic strategies in MS is however hampered by the lack of biomarkers reflecting or predicting disease activity. Some patients may develop neutralizing antibodies (NAB) upon chronic administration of all IFN-b products. Neutralizing antibodies are subset of binding antibodies that prevent IFN-b from activating its receptor, thereby blocking the biological effects and reducing the clinical efficacy. MxA is an antiviral protein induced by type I interferons and some viruses. MxA gene expression is one of the most appropriate markers for measuring the biological activity of exogenous IFN and is reduced by the presence of NAB.
Patrick Stordeur, Mathieu Vokaer and their research team found an excellent correlation between in vivo and in vitro MxA stimulation index. There was also an excellent correlation between the biological results and the clinical responsiveness to therapy. The discovery of additional biomarkers from the collected peripheral blood mRNAs is currently in development.
Immune monitoring of disease activity and of biological response to therapy will help clinician to the early identification of patients who will become non responders to therapy and ideally to identify subgroups of patients who will respond positively to immunointervention.