Quantitative bile and serum proteomics for the screening and differential diagnosis of primary sclerosing cholangitis.

In bile, we discovered 64 proteins with significantly different levels between the groups, with fold changes of up to 129. In serum, we discovered 112 proteins with significantly different levels. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis found multiple proteins with high area under the curve values, up to 0.942, indicating that these serum proteins are of value as new non-invasive classifiers of PSC. Pathway analysis revealed multiple canonical pathways that were enriched in the dataset, which have roles in bile homeostasis and metabolism. We present several serum proteins that could serve as new blood-based markers for the diagnosis of PSC after further validation. The measurement of serum levels of these proteins could be of use in the screening of patients with suspected PSC.