To evaluate whether oligoclonal bands (OB) add information to MRI in predicting both a second attack and development of disability in patients with clinically isolated syndromes (CIS).
From 1995 to ...2006, 572 patients with CIS were included in a prospective study. Patients underwent brain MRI and determination of OB within 3 months of first attack. The number and location of lesions and presence of OB were studied. We analyzed time to second attack and to Expanded Disability Status Scale 3.0 according to number of Barkhof criteria (BC) and the presence or absence of OB.
We studied 415 (73%) patients with CIS with both baseline MRI and determination of OB. Patients were followed for a mean of 50 months (SD 31). Compared to the reference group with 0 BC at baseline MRI, patients with one to two BC showed a hazard ratio (HR) for conversion to CDMS of 3.8 (2.0 to 7.2) and patients with three to four BC of 8.9 (4.8 to 16.4). Of the total cohort, OB were positive in 61% of the patients. However, broken down by MRI group, OB were positive in 31% of those with no BC; 69% of those with one to two BC; and 85% of those with three or four BC. The presence of OB increased the risk of a second relapse (HR 1.7; 1.1 to -2.7) independently of baseline MRI but did not modify the development of disability.
Presence of oligoclonal bands doubles the risk for having a second attack, independently of MRI, but does not seem to influence the development of disability.
To determine the relation between baseline MRI and both conversion to multiple sclerosis (MS) and development of disability in a cohort of patients with clinically isolated syndromes (CIS).
From 1995 ...to 1998, 175 consecutive patients with CIS underwent brain MRI within 3 months of their first attack and again 12 months and 5 years later. We studied the number and location of lesions at baseline and development of new T2 lesions. We also analyzed conversion to MS and development of disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale EDSS > or = 3.0).
We included 156 patients with CIS followed for a median of 7 years. Compared to the reference group with 0 Barkhof criteria at baseline MRI, patients with one or two Barkhof criteria showed an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 6.1 (2.2 to 16.6) and patients with three to four Barkhof criteria of 17.0 (6.7 to 43) for conversion to MS and differentiated patients with low, medium, and high conversion risk. EDSS at year 5 correlated with baseline number of Barkhof criteria (r = 0.46, p < 0.0001). When categorizing by number of baseline lesions, similar results were seen. Patients with a baseline MRI with three to four Barkhof criteria had an adjusted HR of 3.9 (1.1 to 13.6) for reaching EDSS > or = 3.0. Only 10% of the latter had disability at year 5, but 40% reached this at 8 years.
Baseline MRI determines the risk for converting to clinically definite multiple sclerosis and correlates with disability at 5 years. The proportion of patients developing disability is low during the first 5 years but rapidly increases shortly after.
Background:
Substantial progress has been made toward unraveling the genetic architecture of multiple sclerosis (MS) within populations of European ancestry, but few genetic studies have focused on ...Hispanic and African American populations within the United States.
Objective:
We sought to test the relevance of common European MS risk variants outside of the major histocompatibility complex (n = 200) within these populations.
Methods:
Genotype data were available on 2652 Hispanics (1298 with MS, 1354 controls) and 2435 African Americans (1298 with MS, 1137 controls). We conducted single variant, pathway, and cumulative genetic risk score analyses.
Results:
We found less replication than statistical power suggested, particularly among African Americans. This could be due to limited correlation between the tested and causal variants within the sample or alternatively could indicate allelic and locus heterogeneity. Differences were observed between pathways enriched among the replicating versus all 200 variants. Although these differences should be examined in larger samples, a potential role exists for gene–environment or gene–gene interactions which alter phenotype differentially across racial and ethnic groups. Cumulative genetic risk scores were associated with MS within each study sample but showed limited diagnostic capability.
Conclusion:
These findings provide a framework for fine-mapping efforts in multi-ethnic populations of MS.
Background and objective
Several criteria for treatment response to interferon beta (IFNβ) have been proposed, although there is no consensus among different investigators. Hence, the aim of this ...study was to investigate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical predictors of response during the first 12 months of therapy.
Methods
This is a prospective and longitudinal study of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with IFNβ. Patients were classified based on the presence of new lesions on MRI, relapses, confirmed disability increase, or combinations of all these variables after 1 year of therapy. Regression analysis was performed in order to identify variables of response after a follow-up of 3 years.
Results
We included 222 RRMS patients. The logistic model demonstrated that only the combination of new active lesions on MRI with the presence of relapses (OR 4.4; 95% CI 1.6–12.5) or disability progression (Odds Ratio (OR) 7.1; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.6–33.9), or both (OR 6.5; 95% CI 1.9–23.4) achieved significant values to identify those patients with a poor outcome.
Conclusions
In RRMS patients treated with IFNβ, the combination of measures of disease activity and the presence of new active lesions on MRI may have a prognostic value for identifying patients with disease activity in the second and third year of therapy.
Background: Therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) has a partial efficacy, and a significant proportion of treated patients will develop a suboptimal response with first‐line disease‐modifying drugs ...(DMD). Therapy switch in patients with MS can be a strategy after a treatment failure. We studied the change in clinical activity after switching of first‐line DMD because of a treatment failure.
Methods: Relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with interferon‐beta (IFNB) or glatiramer acetate (GA) were divided into (i) patients without change in DMD, (ii) patients with a change in DMD because of a poor response, and (iii) those with a change in DMD without relation with response. Annualized relapse rate (ARR) and relapse‐free proportions were analyzed.
Results: We identified 923 patients with RRMS. Of the 180 who experienced a change because of suboptimal response, 90 switched to another first‐line DMT, 38 to mitoxantrone, and 52 to natalizumab. Median ARR in the pre‐DMD period on first DMD and second DMD was the following: 1, 1, and 0 for switchers from IFNB to another IFNB (P = 0.0001); 0.67, 1, and 0 for switchers from GA to IFNB (P = 0.01); 1, 1, and 0 for switchers from an IFNB to GA (P = 0.02); 1.1, 1.5, 0.2 for switchers from IFNB or GA to mitoxantrone (P = 0.0001); 0.9, 1, 0 for switchers from IFNB or GA to natalizumab (P = 0.0001).
Conclusions: In patients with RRMS who have a poor response, switch to another DMD may reduce the clinical activity of the disease.
Background and purpose
Chitinase 3‐like 1 (CHI3L1) and neurofilament light chain (NF‐L) are promising biomarkers of disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, their role in cognitive dysfunction ...remains elusive. Here, we aimed to correlate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of CHI3L1 and NF‐L with cognitive status in MS.
Methods
Fifty one recently diagnosed patients were cognitively evaluated and CSF was collected. Levels of CHI3L1 and NF‐L were determined by ELISA. Spearman's partial correlation coefficient was performed.
Results
After adjusting cognitive scores by age, anxiety and EDSS, association was detected between CHI3L1 levels and Trail Making Test A (rs = 0.348; p = 0.016) and between NF‐L levels and Word List Generation (rs = −0.324; p = 0.025).
Conclusion
High levels of CSF CHI3L1 and NF‐L are associated with cognitive impairment in the early phases of MS.
Number of baseline lesions has been shown to predict future attacks and disability in clinically isolated syndromes (CIS).
To investigate the role of baseline infratentorial lesions in long-term ...prognosis.
Subjects were included in a prospective cohort of patients with CIS. Patients underwent brain MRI within 3 months after CIS onset. Number and location of lesions at baseline were prospectively studied. Retrospective scan analysis was conducted to specifically look at number and location of infratentorial lesions. We analyzed the time to a second attack and to reach EDSS 3.0.
We included 246 patients with CIS followed for a median of 7.7 years. Patients with infratentorial lesions had both a higher risk of conversion (71.4% vs 29.6%; hazard ratio HR 3.3; 95% confidence interval CI 2.2-4.8; p < 0.001) and of developing disability (32.5% vs 12.4%; HR 2.4; 95% CI 1.3-4.3; p = 0.003). Presence of at least one cerebellar lesion was associated with an increased risk of conversion (HR 2.4; 95% CI 1.3-4.5; p = 0.007). Presence of at least one brainstem lesion increased both the risk of conversion (HR 2.9; 95% CI 1.7-5.0; p < 0.001) and disability (HR 2.5; 95% CI 1.1-5.4; p = 0.026). Broken down into number of lesions, the presence of infratentorial lesions increased both the risk of conversion (83% vs 61%) (HR 22.3; 95% CI 9.7-51.1; p < 0.001) and of reaching EDSS 3.0 (40% vs 19%) (HR 3.2; 95% CI 1.3-7.4; p = 0.008) only in patients with 9 or more lesions.
Presence of infratentorial lesions increases the risk for disability. Brainstem rather than cerebellar lesions may be responsible for poor prognosis.
The effect of interferon-beta in multiple sclerosis is modest and many patients do not respond to treatment. To date, no single biomarker reliably correlates with responsiveness to interferon-β in ...multiple sclerosis. In the present study, genome-wide expression profiling was performed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 47 multiple sclerosis patients treated with interferon-β for a minimum of 2 years and classified as responders and non-responders based on clinical criteria. A validation cohort of 30 multiple sclerosis patients was included in the study to replicate gene-expression findings. Before treatment, interferon-β responders and non-responders were characterized by differential expression of type I interferon-induced genes with overexpression of the type interferon-induced genes in non-responders. Upon treatment the expression of these genes remained unaltered in non-responders, but was strongly upregulated in responders. Functional experiments showed a selective increase in phosphorylated STAT1 levels and interferon receptor 1 expression in monocytes of non-responders at baseline. When dissecting this type I interferon signature further, interferon-β non-responders were characterized by increased monocyte type I interferon secretion upon innate immune stimuli via toll-like receptor 4, by increased endogenous production of type I interferon, and by an elevated activation status of myeloid dendritic cells. These findings indicate that perturbations of the type I interferon signalling pathway in monocytes are related to lack of response to interferon-β, and type I interferon-regulated genes may be used as response markers in interferon-β treatment.
Summary
It has long been known that tumour necrosis factor (TNF)/TNFRSF1A signalling is involved in the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS). Different genetic and clinical findings over the ...last few years have generated renewed interest in this relationship. This paper provides an update on these recent findings. Genome‐wide association studies have identified the R92Q mutation in the TNFRSF1A gene as a genetic risk factor for MS (odds ratio 1·6). This allele, which is also common in the general population and in other inflammatory conditions, therefore only implies a modest risk for MS and provides yet another piece of the puzzle that defines the multiple genetic risk factors for this disease. TNFRSF1A mutations have been associated with an autoinflammatory disease known as TNF receptor‐associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS). Clinical observations have identified a group of MS patients carrying the R92Q mutation who have additional TRAPS symptoms. Hypothetically, the co‐existence of MS and TRAPS or a co‐morbidity relationship between the two could be mediated by this mutation. The TNFRSF1A R92Q mutation behaves as a genetic risk factor for MS and other inflammatory diseases, including TRAPS. Nevertheless, this mutation does not appear to be a severity marker of the disease, neither modifying the clinical progression of MS nor its therapeutic response. An alteration in TNF/TNFRS1A signalling may increase proinflammatory signals; the final clinical phenotype may possibly be determined by other genetic or environmental modifying factors that have not yet been identified.
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