Serum phosphorylated neurofilament-heavy chain levels in multiple sclerosis patients. Issue 11 (17th March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gresle, M M; Liu, Y; Dagley, L F; Haartsen, J; Pearson, F; Purcell, A W; Laverick, L; Petzold, A; Lucas, R M; Van der Walt, A; Prime, H; Morris, D R; Taylor, B V; Shaw, G; Butzkueven, H
• Other Names: Lazarus K-J author non-byline.; Marriott MP author non-byline.; Skibina O author non-byline.; Taylor BV author non-byline.; Lucas RM author non-byline.; Kilpatrick TJ author non-byline.; Dear K author non-byline.; Pender MP author non-byline.; van der Mei I author non-byline.; Chapman C author non-byline.; Coulthard A author non-byline.; Dwyer T author non-byline.; McMichael AJ. author non-byline.; C Valery P author non-byline.; Williams D author non-byline.; Ponsonby A-L author non-byline.
• Is Part Of: Journal of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry. Volume 85:Issue 11(2014)
• Page Start: 1209
• Page End: 1213
• Publication Date: 2014-03-17
• Subjects: MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS; Neurology -- Periodicals; Nervous system -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2013-306789
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-3050

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: We evaluated whether the measurement of serum phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain (pNF-H) titre is likely to be a valid biomarker of axonal injury in multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Serum pNF-H concentrations were measured by ELISA in cases with relapsing-remitting (RR)-MS (n=81), secondary progressive (SP) MS (n=13) and primary progressive (PP)-MS; n=6) MS; first demyelinating event (FDE; n=82); and unaffected controls (n=135). A subset of MS cases (n=45) were re-sampled on one or multiple occasions. The Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS) and MRI measures were used to evaluate associations between serum pNF-H status, disease severity and cerebral lesion load and activity. Results: We confirmed the presence of pNF-H peptides in serum by ELISA. We showed that a high serum pNF-H titre was detectable in 9% of RR-MS and FDE cases, and 38.5% of SP-MS cases. Patients with a high serum pNF-H titre had higher average MSSS scores and T2 lesion volumes than patients with a low serum pNF-H titre. Repeated sampling of a subset of MS cases showed that pNF-H levels can fluctuate over time, likely reflecting temporal dynamics of axonal injury in MS. Conclusions: A subset of FDE/MS cases was found to have a high serum pNF-H titre, and this was associated with changes in clinical outcome measures. We propose that routine measurement of serum pNF-H should be further investigated for monitoring axonal injury in MS.