Apelin-13: A Promising Biomarker for Multiple Sclerosis?

OBJECTIVES: Recent studies have shown that Apelin 13 may have a neuroprotective property. Therefore it can be used as a biomarker for multiple sclerosis. Our purpose to assess serum apelin-13 levels in adult patients with multiple sclerosis and healthy controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Subjects consisted of 42 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis patients and 41 controls. Demographic characteristics including age, gender, duration of disease and Expanded Disability Symptom Scale (EDSS) were recorded. In serum samples obtained from the patients and controls, serum apelin-13 levels were measured with Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. RESULTS: Serum apelin-13 levels were significantly higher in the patients groups than the healthy controls (P = 0.003). Pearson analysis did not show any significant correlation between EDSS, disease duration and apelin-13 levels. CONCLUSION: The results of our study have been showed statistically significant higher levels of serum apelin-13 in multiple sclerosis patients compared to controls. Further studies with larger patients populations and healthy controls should be done to clarify to use serum apelin levels as a biomarker for multiple sclerosis.