Potential biomarkers for monitoring therapeutic response in patients with CIDP

Although the majority of patients with CIDP variably respond to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), steroids, or plasmapheresis, 30% of them are unresponsive or insufficiently responsive to these therapies. The heterogeneity in therapeutic responses necessitates the need to search for biomarkers to determine the most suitable therapy from the outset and explore the best means for monitoring disease activity. The ICE study, which led to the first FDA-approved indication for IVIg in CIDP, has shown that maintenance therapy prevents relapses and axonal loss. In this paper, the multiple actions exerted by IVIg on the immunoregulatory network of CIDP are discussed as potential predictors of response to therapies. Emerging molecular markers, promising in identifying responders to IVIg from non-responders, include modulation of Fc gamma RIIB receptors on monocytes and genome-wide transcription studies related to inflammatory mediators, demyelination, or axonal degeneration. Skin biopsies, Peripheral Blood Lymhocytes, CSF, and sera are accessible surrogate tissues for further exploring these molecules during therapies.