Identification of CD4+ T cell biomarkers for predicting the response of patients with relapsing‑remitting multiple sclerosis to natalizumab treatment.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system of autoimmune etiopathogenesis, and is characterized by various neurological symptoms. Glatiramer acetate and interferon‑β are administered as first‑line treatments for this disease. In non‑responsive patients, several second‑line therapies are available, including natalizumab; however, a percentage of MS patients does not respond, or respond partially. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to develop a diagnostic test for the prediction of drug response in patients suffering from complex diseases, such as MS, where several therapeutic options are already available. By a machine learning approach, the UnCorrelated Shrunken Centroid algorithm was applied to identify a subset of genes of CD4+ T cells that may predict the pharmacological response of relapsing‑remitting MS patients to natalizumab, before the initiation of therapy. The results from the present study may provide a basis for the design of personalized therapeutic strategies for patients with MS.