Glial fibrillary acidic protein as a biomarker in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder: a current review

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Item Type:	Review
Title:	Glial fibrillary acidic protein as a biomarker in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder: a current review
Creators Name:	Schindler, P., Aktas, O., Ringelstein, M., Wildemann, B., Jarius, S., Paul, F. and Ruprecht, K.
Abstract:	INTRODUCTION: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a relapsing, often debilitating neuroinflammatory disease, whose predominant clinical manifestations are longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis and optic neuritis. About 80% of patients with an NMOSD phenotype have pathogenic autoantibodies against the astrocyte water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4-IgG). While therapeutic options for NMOSD have greatly expanded in the last years, well-established biomarkers for prognosis or treatment response are still lacking. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is mainly expressed in astrocytes, and can be detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood of patients with NMOSD. AREAS COVERED: Here, we comprehensively review the current knowledge on GFAP as a biomarker in NMOSD. EXPERT OPINION: In patients with AQP4-IgG(+) NMOSD, GFAP levels are elevated in CSF and serum during acute attacks and correlate with disability, consistent with the pathophysiology of this antibody-mediated astrocytopathy. Serum GFAP levels tend to be higher in AQP4-IgG(+) NMOSD than in its differential diagnoses, multiple sclerosis and myelin oligodendrocyte antibody-associated disease. Importantly, serum GFAP levels in AQP4-IgG(+) NMOSD during remission may be predictive of future disease activity. Serial serum GFAP measurements are emerging as a biomarker to monitor disease activity in AQP4-IgG(+) NMOSD and could have the potential for application in clinical practice.
Keywords:	Aquaporin-4 Antibodies, Biomarker, Disease Activity, Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP), Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated Disease (MOGAD), Myelitis, Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (NMOSD), Optic Neuritis
Source:	Expert Review of Clinical Immunology
ISSN:	1744-8409
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Volume:	19
Number:	1
Page Range:	71-91
Date:	January 2023
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1080/1744666x.2023.2148657
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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