PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)

The Urine Proteome Profile Is Different in Neuromyelitis Optica Compared to Multiple Sclerosis: A Clinical Proteome Study.

  • Helle H Nielsen,
  • Hans C Beck,
  • Lars P Kristensen,
  • Mark Burton,
  • Tunde Csepany,
  • Magdolna Simo,
  • Peter Dioszeghy,
  • Tobias Sejbaek,
  • Manuela Grebing,
  • Niels H H Heegaard,
  • Zsolt Illes

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139659
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 10
p. e0139659

Abstract

Read online

Inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the CNS comprise a broad spectrum of diseases like neuromyelitis optica (NMO), NMO spectrum disorders (NMO-SD) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Despite clear classification criteria, differentiation can be difficult. We hypothesized that the urine proteome may differentiate NMO from MS.The proteins in urine samples from anti-aquaporin 4 (AQP4) seropositive NMO/NMO-SD patients (n = 32), patients with MS (n = 46) and healthy subjects (HS, n = 31) were examined by quantitative liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) after trypsin digestion and iTRAQ labelling. Immunoglobulins (Ig) in the urine were validated by nephelometry in an independent cohort (n = 9-10 pr. groups).The analysis identified a total of 1112 different proteins of which 333 were shared by all 109 subjects. Cluster analysis revealed differences in the urine proteome of NMO/NMO-SD compared to HS and MS. Principal component analysis also suggested that the NMO/NMO-SD proteome profile was useful for classification. Multivariate regression analysis revealed a 3-protein profile for the NMO/NMO-SD versus HS discrimination, a 6-protein profile for NMO/NMO-SD versus MS discrimination and an 11-protein profile for MS versus HS discrimination. All protein panels yielded highly significant ROC curves (AUC in all cases >0.85, p≤0.0002). Nephelometry confirmed the presence of increased Ig-light chains in the urine of patients with NMO/NMO-SD.The urine proteome profile of patients with NMO/NMO-SD is different from MS and HS. This may reflect differences in the pathogenesis of NMO/NMO-SD versus MS and suggests that urine may be a potential source of biomarkers differentiating NMO/NMO-SD from MS.