Identification of circulating biomarkers of Crohn's disease and spondyloarthritis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Abstract

Crohn's disease (CD) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) are two inflammatory diseases sharing many common features (genetic polymorphism, armamentarium). Both diseases lack diagnostic markers of certainty. While the diagnosis of CD is made by a combination of clinical, and biological criteria, the diagnosis of SpA may take several years to be confirmed. Based on the hypothesis that CD and SpA alter the biochemical profile of plasma, the objective of this study was to evaluate the analytical capability of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in identifying spectral biomarkers. Plasma from 104 patients was analyzed. After data processing of the spectra by Extended Multiplicative Signal Correction and linear discriminant analysis, we demonstrated that it was possible to distinguish CD and SpA from controls with an accuracy of 97% and 85% respectively. Spectral differences were mainly associated with proteins and lipids. This study showed that FTIR analysis is efficient to identify plasma biosignatures specific to CD or SpA.