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Serum neurofilament light chain levels associations with gray matter pathology: a 5-year longitudinal study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Gray matter (GM) pathology is closely associated with physical and cognitive impairment in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Similarly, serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels are related to MS disease activity and progression. OBJECTIVES:To assess the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between sNfL and MRI-derived lesion and brain volume outcomes in PwMS and age-matched healthy controls (HCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS:Forty-seven HCs and 120 PwMS were followed over 5 years. All subjects underwent baseline and follow-up 3T MRI and sNfL examinations. Lesion volumes (LV) and global, tissue-specific and regional brain volumes were assessed. sNfL levels were analyzed using single molecule array (Simoa) assay and quantified in pg/mL. The associations between sNfL levels and MRI outcomes were investigated using regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, baseline disease modifying treatment (DMT) use and change in DMT over the follow-up. False discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted q-values <0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS:In PwMS, baseline sNfL was associated with baseline T1 -, T2 - and gadolinium-LV (q = 0.002, q = 0.001 and q < 0.001, respectively), but not with their longitudinal changes. Higher baseline sNfL levels were associated with lower baseline deep GM (β = -0.257, q = 0.017), thalamus (β = -0.216, q = 0.0017), caudate (β = -0.263, q = 0.014) and hippocampus (β = -0.267, q = 0.015) volumes. Baseline sNfL was associated with longitudinal decline of deep GM (β = -0.386, q < 0.001), putamen (β = -0.395, q < 0.001), whole brain (β = -0.356, q = 0.002), thalamus (β = -0.272, q = 0.049), globus pallidus (β = -0.284, q = 0.017), and GM (β = -0.264, q = 0.042) volumes. No associations between sNfL and MRI-derived measures were seen in the HCs. CONCLUSION:Higher sNfL levels were associated with baseline LVs and greater development of GM atrophy in PwMS.

SUBMITTER: Jakimovski D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6764487 | biostudies-other | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Serum neurofilament light chain levels associations with gray matter pathology: a 5-year longitudinal study.

Jakimovski Dejan D Kuhle Jens J Ramanathan Murali M Barro Christian C Tomic Davorka D Hagemeier Jesper J Kropshofer Harald H Bergsland Niels N Leppert David D Dwyer Michael G MG Michalak Zuzanna Z Benedict Ralph H B RHB Weinstock-Guttman Bianca B Zivadinov Robert R

Annals of clinical and translational neurology 20190822 9

<h4>Background</h4>Gray matter (GM) pathology is closely associated with physical and cognitive impairment in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Similarly, serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels are related to MS disease activity and progression.<h4>Objectives</h4>To assess the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between sNfL and MRI-derived lesion and brain volume outcomes in PwMS and age-matched healthy controls (HCs).<h4>Materials and methods</h4>Forty-seven HCs and 120 ...[more]

PMID: 31437387

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Project description:Background and objectivesConnectivity-based approaches incorporating the distribution and magnitude of the extended brain network aberrations caused by lesions may offer higher sensitivity for axonal damage in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) than conventional lesion characteristics. Using individual brain disconnectome mapping, we tested the longitudinal associations between putative imaging-based brain network aberrations and levels of serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) as a neuroaxonal injury biomarker.MethodsMS patients (n = 312, mean age 42.9 years, 71 % female) and healthy controls (HC) (n = 59, mean age 39.9 years, 78 % female) were prospectively enrolled at four European MS centres, and reassessed after two years (MS, n = 242; HC, n = 30). Post-processing of 3 Tesla (3 T) MRI data was performed at one centre using a harmonized pipeline, and disconnectome maps were calculated using BCBtoolkit based on individual lesion maps. Global disconnectivity (GD) was defined as the average disconnectome probability in each patient's white matter. Serum NfL concentrations were measured by single molecule array (Simoa). Robust linear mixed models (rLMM) with GD or T2-lesion volume (T2LV) as dependent variables, patient as a random factor, serum NfL, age, sex, timepoint for visit, diagnosis, treatment, and center as fixed factors were run.ResultsrLMM revealed significant associations between GD and serum NfL (t = 2.94, p = 0.003), age (t = 4.21, p = 2.5 × 10-5), and longitudinal changes in NfL (t = -2.29, p = 0.02), but not for sex (t = 0.63, p = 0.53) or treatments (t = 0.80-0.83, p = 0.41-0.42). Voxel-wise analyses revealed significant associations between dysconnectivity in cerebellar and brainstem regions and serum NfL (t = 7.03, p < 0.001).DiscussionIn our prospective multi-site MS cohort, rLMMs demonstrated that the extent of global and regional brain disconnectivity is sensitive to a systemic biomarker of axonal damage, serum NfL, in patients with MS. These findings provide a neuroaxonal correlate of advanced disconnectome mapping and provide a platform for further investigations of the functional and potential clinical relevance of brain disconnectome mapping in patients with brain disorders.

Project description:ImportanceUnrecognized demyelinating events often precede the clinical onset of multiple sclerosis (MS). Identification of these events at the time of occurrence would have implications for early diagnosis and the search of causal factors for the disease.ObjectiveTo assess whether serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels are elevated before the clinical MS onset.Design, setting, and participantsNested case-control study among US military personnel who have serum samples stored in the US Department of Defense Serum Repository. Serum samples were collected from 2000 to 2011; sNfL assays and data analyses were performed from 2018 to 2019. We selected 60 case patients with MS who either had 2 samples collected before onset (mean follow-up, 6.3 years) or 1 sample collected before and 1 after onset (mean follow-up, 1.3 years), among 245 previously identified case patients. For each case, we randomly selected 1 of 2 previously identified control individuals matched by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and dates of sample collection. The sample size was chosen based on the available funding.ExposuresSerum NfL concentrations measured using an ultrasensitive single-molecule array assay (Simoa).Main outcomes and measurementsLog-transformed sNfL concentrations in case patients and control individuals compared using conditional logistic regression and linear mixed models.ResultsMean age at baseline was 27.5 years, and 92 of 120 participants (76.7%) were men. Serum NfL levels were higher in case patients with MS compared with their matched control individuals in samples drawn a median of 6 years (range, 4-10 years) before the clinical onset (median, 16.7 pg/mL; interquartile range [IQR], 12.6-23.1 pg/mL vs 15.2 pg/m; IQR, 10.3-19.9 pg/mL; P = .04). This difference increased with decreasing time to the case clinical onset (estimated coefficient for interaction with time = 0.063; P = .008). A within-person increase in presymptomatic sNfL levels was associated with higher MS risk (rate ratio for ≥5 pg/mL increase, 7.50; 95% CI, 1.72-32.80). The clinical onset was associated with a marked increase in sNfL levels (median, 25.0; IQR, 17.1-41.3 vs 45.1; IQR, 27.0-102.7 pg/mL for presymptomatic and postonset MS samples; P = .009).Conclusions and relevanceThe levels of sNfL were increased 6 years before the clinical MS onset, indicating that MS may have a prodromal phase lasting several years and that neuroaxonal damage occurs already during this phase.

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Serum neurofilament light chain levels associations with gray matter pathology: a 5-year longitudinal study.

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Serum neurofilament light chain levels associations with gray matter pathology: a 5-year longitudinal study.

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