Methods for biomarker analysis

Neuroinfl ammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS) encountered a therapeutic revolution in the last 20 years and have raised hope also for neurodegenerative diseases affecting especially the elderly population in western countries. Biomarkers, especially those from the fi eld of neuroimaging, were decisive in accelerating drug development and optimization of treatments. Neuroimaging, however, may be not suffi cient in the case of neurodegeneration, where structural alterations accumulate at a very low rate over several years. To capture this slow evolution, biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fl uid appear as a very plausible candidate. We will review here, in general terms, the state of the art in the fi eld biomarkers in the CSF with a special focus on the application of “omics” platforms.