Serum neurofilament light chains in assessing the course of multiple sclerosis

Kamenskikh EM, Alifirova VM, Pashkovskaya DV, Titova MA, Koroleva ES, Levchuk LA, Ivanova SA. Serum neurofilament light chains in assessing the course of multiple sclerosis. S.S. Korsakov Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry. 2024;124(1):89‑93. (In Russ.)
https://doi.org/10.17116/jnevro202412401189

Подписка 2026 Журнал неврологии и психиатрии им. С.С. Корсакова (S.S. Korsakov Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry)

Использование инфографики авторами научных работ

Close metadata

OBJECTIVE

To study a role of serum neurofilament light chains (sNFL) in assessment of course and progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the population of patients with MS in the Tomsk region.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study involved 93 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and secondary progressive MS (SPMS) (n_RRMS=75, n_SPMS=18). The study was carried out in a two-stage design: the first stage was a cross-sectional study for the entire sample; the second stage was a prospective observation with two visits for patients with relapse. sNFL concentration was determined by solid-phase ELISA.

RESULTS

There was no statistically significant difference between RRMS and SPMS, and relapse and remission groups in terms of sNFL levels. Patients with a MS duration exceeding 14 years had higher rates of sNFL than those with a shorter duration (p=0.02). The subjects of the second study stage showed a decrease in sNFL from 2.05 (1.86; 2.19) pg/ml to 1.92 (1.87; 2.04) pg/ml (p=0.005), and slowdown in sNFL reduction correlated with the severity of cognitive impairment (k=0.52; p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Dynamic monitoring of sNFL allows the evaluation of the activity of the disease, as well as making an assumption about the compensatory possibilities of subsequent recovery.

Keywords:

multiple sclerosis

biomarkers

neurofilaments

prognosis

progression

Authors:

Kamenskikh E.M.

Siberian State Medical University

SPIN RSCI: 1141-3629
Scopus AuthorID: 57213155017
ORCID: 0000-0003-0814-8344

Alifirova V.M.

Siberian State Medical University

SPIN RSCI: 3824-1016
Scopus AuthorID: 6507431329
ORCID: 0000-0002-4140-3223

Pashkovskaya D.V.

Siberian State Medical University

ORCID: 0000-0002-0471-5084

Titova M.A.

Siberian State Medical University

ORCID: 0000-0003-1708-8291

Koroleva E.S.

Siberian State Medical University

SPIN RSCI: 6009-8113
Scopus AuthorID: 56299905400
ORCID: 0000-0003-1911-166X

Levchuk L.A.

Mental Health Research Institute — Tomsk National Research Medical Center Russian Academy of Sciences

ORCID: 0000-0003-1982-8492

Ivanova S.A.

Siberian State Medical University;
Mental Health Research Institute — Tomsk National Research Medical Center Russian Academy of Sciences

ORCID: 0000-0001-7078-323X

Received:

21.07.2023

Accepted:

19.09.2023

Close metadata

References:

Teunissen CE, Iacobaeus E, Khademi M. Combination of CSF N-acetylaspartate and neurofilaments in multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2009;72(15):1322-1329. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181a0fe3f
Gunnarsson M, Malmeström C, Axelsson M. Axonal damage in relapsing multiple sclerosis is markedly reduced by natalizumab. Ann Neurol. 2011;69(1):83-89. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.22247
Håkansson I, Tisell A, Cassel P. Neurofilament light chain in cerebrospinal fluid and prediction of disease activity in clinically isolated syndrome and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Eur J Neurol. 2017;24(5):703-712. https://doi.org/10.1111/ene.13274
Novakova L, Axelsson M, Khademi M. Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers as a measure of disease activity and treatment efficacy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. J Neurochem. 2017;141(2):296-304. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.13881
Barro C, Benkert P, Disanto G. Serum neurofilament as a predictor of disease worsening and brain and spinal cord atrophy in multiple sclerosis. Brain. 2018;141(8):2382-2391. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awy154
Ulndreaj A, Sohaei D, Thebault S. Quantitation of neurofilament light chain protein in serum and cerebrospinal fluid from patients with multiple sclerosis using the MSD R-PLEX NfL assay. Diagnosis (Berl). 2023;10(3):275-280. https://doi.org/10.1515/dx-2022-0125
Thebault S, Reaume M, Marrie RA. High or increasing serum NfL is predictive of impending multiple sclerosis relapses. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2022;59:103535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2022.103535
Hradilek P, Revendova KZ, Horakova J. Cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light chains and CXCL13 as predictive factors for clinical course of multiple sclerosis. Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czechoslov. 2023;167(1):30-35. https://doi.org/10.5507/bp.2023.002
Gisslén M, Price RW, Andreasson U. Plasma Concentration of the Neurofilament Light Protein (NFL) is a Biomarker of CNS Injury in HIV Infection: A Cross-Sectional Study. EBioMedicine. 2015;3:135-140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2015.11.036
Kuhle J, Barro C, Andreasson U. Comparison of three analytical platforms for quantification of the neurofilament light chain in blood samples: ELISA, electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and Simoa. Clin Chem Lab Med CCLM. 2016;54(10):1655-1661. https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2015-1195
Rissin DM, Kan CW, Campbell TG. Single-molecule enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detects serum proteins at subfemtomolar concentrations. Nat Biotechnol. 2010;28(6):595-599. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1641
Kiseleva EV, Spirina NN, Spirin NN. Neurofilaments of light chains as a possible marker of the activity of the demilenizing process in multiple sclerosis. Materials of the 4th all-Russian congress with international participation «Multiple sclerosis and other demyelination diseases» (Nizhny Novgorod 24—26 sept. 2020). Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii im. S.S. Korsakova. 2020;120(7-2):107-166. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17116/jnevro2020120072107
Thompson AJ, Banwell BL, Barkhof F. Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis: 2017 revisions of the McDonald criteria. Lancet Neurol. 2018;17(2):162-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30470-2
Williams T, Tur C, Eshaghi A. Serum neurofilament light and MRI predictors of cognitive decline in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: Analysis from the MS-STAT randomised controlled trial. Mult Scler Houndmills Basingstoke Engl. 2022;28(12):1913-1926. https://doi.org/10.1177/13524585221114441
Khalil M, Teunissen CE, Otto M, et al. Neurofilaments as biomarkers in neurological disorders. Nat Rev Neurol. 2018;14(10):577-589. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-018-0058-z
Gordon BA. Neurofilaments in disease: what do we know? Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2020;61:105-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2020.02.001