Open AccessTh1Th17CM Lymphocyte Subpopulation as a Predictive Biomarker of Disease Activity in Multiple Sclerosis Patients under Dimethyl Fumarate or Fingolimod Treatment
Author(s) -
Bibiana QuirantSánchez,
Silvia Presas-Rodríguez,
María José Mansilla,
Aina Teniente-Serra,
J.V. Hervás-García,
Luís Brieva,
Ester MoralTorres,
Antonio Cano,
Elvira Munteis,
Juan NavarroBarriuso,
Eva Martínez-Cáceres,
Cristina Ramo-Tello
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
mediators of inflammation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.37
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1466-1861
pISSN - 0962-9351
DOI - 10.1155/2019/8147803
Subject(s) - algorithm , medicine , computer science
Peripheral blood biomarkers able to predict disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients have not been identified yet. Here, we analyzed the immune phenotype of T lymphocyte subpopulations in peripheral blood samples from 66 RRMS patients under DMF ( n = 22) or fingolimod ( n = 44) treatment, by flow cytometry. A correlation study between the percentage and absolute cell number of each lymphocyte subpopulation with the presence of relapses or new MRI lesions during 12-month follow-up was performed. Patients who had undergone relapses showed at baseline higher percentage of Th1 CM cells (relapsed: 11.60 ± 4.17% vs . nonrelapsed: 9.25 ± 3.17%, p < 0.05) and Th1Th17 CM cells (relapsed: 15.65 ± 6.15% vs . nonrelapsed: 10.14 ± 4.05%, p < 0.01) before initiating DMF or fingolimod treatment. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with Th1Th17 CM (CD4 + CCR7 + CD45RA − CCR6 + CXCR3 + ) cells > 11.48% had a 50% relapse-free survival compared to patients with Th1Th17 CM cells < 11.48% whose relapse-free survival was 88% ( p = 0.013, log-rank test). Additionally, a high percentage of Th1Th17 CM cells was also found in patients with MRI activity (MRI activity: 14.02 ± 5.87% vs . no MRI activity: 9.82 ± 4.06%, p < 0.01). Our results suggest that the percentage of Th1Th17 CM lymphocytes at baseline is a predictive biomarker of activity during the first 12 months of treatment, regardless of the treatment.