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Plasma neurofilaments correlate with disability in progressive multiple sclerosis patients
Author(s) -
Ferraro Diana,
Guicciardi Claudio,
De Biasi Sara,
Pinti Marcello,
Bedin Roberta,
Camera Valentina,
Vitetta Francesca,
Nasi Milena,
Meletti Stefano,
Sola Patrizia
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/ane.13152
Subject(s) - multiple sclerosis , medicine , neurofilament , expanded disability status scale , cerebrospinal fluid , context (archaeology) , gastroenterology , clinically isolated syndrome , central nervous system disease , amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , confidence interval , pathology , disease , immunology , biology , immunohistochemistry , paleontology
Objectives Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood neurofilaments (NFLs) are markers of axonal damage and are being investigated, mostly in relapsing‐remitting (RR) MS, as a marker of disease activity and of response to treatment, while there are less data in progressive MS patients. Primary aim was to measure NFL in plasma samples of untreated patients with primary (PP) and secondary (SP) progressive MS and to correlate them with disability, disease severity, and prior/subsequent disability progression. Materials and Methods Neurofilament concentrations were measured using SIMOA (Single Molecule Array, Simoa HD‐1 Analyzer; Quanterix). Results Neurofilament concentrations were measured on plasma samples of 70 progressive (27 PP and 43 SP), 21 RRMS patients, and 10 HCs. Longitudinal plasma NFL (pNFL) concentrations (median interval between sampling: 25 months) were available for nine PP/SP patients. PNFL concentrations were significantly higher in PP/SP compared to RRMS patients. They correlated with EDSS and MS Severity Score values. There was no difference in pNFL levels between PP/SP patients with EDSS progression in the preceding year (14% of patients) or during a median follow‐up of 27 months (41%). In the longitudinal sub‐study, pNFL levels increased in all patients between sampling by a mean value of 23% while EDSS mostly remained stable (77% of cases). Conclusion In PP/SP progressive MS patients, pNFL levels correlate with disability and increase over time, but are not associated with prior/subsequent disability progression, as measured by EDSS, which may not be a sufficiently sensitive tool in this context.