Immune cell subpopulations and serum neurofilament light chain are associated with increased risk of disease worsening in multiple sclerosis

Synne Brune-Ingebretsen; Einar A Høgestøl; Nicole Kerlero de Rosbo; Pål Berg-Hansen; Cathrine Brunborg; Kaj Blennow; Henrik Zetterberg; Friedemann Paul; Antonio Uccelli; Pablo Villoslada; Hanne F Harbo; Tone Berge

doi:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2023.578175

Immune cell subpopulations and serum neurofilament light chain are associated with increased risk of disease worsening in multiple sclerosis

J Neuroimmunol. 2023 Sep 15:382:578175. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2023.578175. Epub 2023 Aug 7.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: synne.brune-ingebretsen@medisin.uio.no.
² Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
³ Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; TomaLab, Institute of Nanotechnology, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.
⁷ Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden; Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom; UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London, United Kingdom; Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China; Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
⁸ Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine and Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; Center of Excellence for Biomedical Research, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
¹⁰ Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.
¹¹ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
¹² Department of Research, Innovation and Education, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Mechanical, Electronic and Chemical Engineering, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.

PMID: 37573634
DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2023.578175

Abstract

Changes is lymphocyte subpopulations in peripheral blood have been proposed as biomarkers for evaluation of disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS). Serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) is a biomarker reflecting neuro-axonal injury in MS that could be used to monitor disease activity, response to drugs and to prognosticate disease course. Here we show a moderate correlation between sNfL and lymphocyte cell subpopulations, and our data furthermore suggest that sNfL and specific immune cell subpopulations together could predict future disease worsening in MS.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Disease worsening; Immune cell subset frequencies; Multiple sclerosis; Serum neurofilament light chain.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Axons
Biomarkers
Disease Progression
Humans
Intermediate Filaments
Multiple Sclerosis*
Neurofilament Proteins

Substances

Biomarkers
Neurofilament Proteins