ALS blood expression profiling identifies new biomarkers, patient subgroups, and evidence for neutrophilia and hypoxia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a debilitating disease with few treatment options. Progress towards new therapies requires validated disease biomarkers, but there is no consensus on which fluid-based measures are most informative.

Methods

This study analyzed microarray data derived from blood samples of patients with ALS (n = 396), ALS mimic diseases (n = 75), and healthy controls (n = 645). Goals were to provide in-depth analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), characterize patient-to-patient heterogeneity, and identify candidate biomarkers.

Results

We identified 752 ALS-increased and 764 ALS-decreased DEGs (FDR < 0.10 with > 10% expression change). Gene expression shifts in ALS blood broadly resembled acute high altitude stress responses.

SUBMITTER: Swindell WR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6530130 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature