Serum Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein and Neurofilament Light Chain Levels Reflect Different Mechanisms of Disease Progression under B-Cell Depleting Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis.

Objective: To investigate the longitudinal dynamics of serum glial fibrillary acidic protein (sGFAP) and serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) under B-cell depleting therapy (BCDT) and their capacity to prognosticate future progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) events.

Methods: A total of 362 pwMS (1,480 samples) starting BCDT in the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Cohort were included. sGFAP levels in 2,861 control persons (4,943 samples) provided normative data to calculate adjusted Z scores.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy genetic risk variants for pharmacovigilance of immunosuppressant therapies.

Background: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare and often lethal brain disorder caused by the common, typically benign polyomavirus 2, also known as JC virus (JCV). In a small percentage of immunosuppressed individuals, JCV is reactivated and infects the brain, causing devastating neurological defects. A wide range of immunosuppressed groups can develop PML, such as patients with: HIV/AIDS, hematological malignancies (e.

Broader Epstein-Barr virus-specific T cell receptor repertoire in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection precedes multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology and cross-reactive antibodies might link EBV infection to CNS autoimmunity. As an altered anti-EBV T cell reaction was suggested in MS, we queried peripheral blood T cell receptor β chain (TCRβ) repertoires of 1,395 MS patients, 887 controls, and 35 monozygotic, MS-discordant twin pairs for multimer-confirmed, viral antigen-specific TCRβ sequences. We detected more MHC-I-restricted EBV-specific TCRβ sequences in MS patients.

Serum Neurofilament Levels and PML Risk in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Treated With Natalizumab.

Objectives: The study aimed to assess the potential for serum neurofilament light chain (NFL) levels to predict the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in natalizumab (NTZ)-treated patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to discriminate PML from MS relapses.

Methods: NFL levels were measured with single molecule array (Simoa) in 4 cohorts: (1) a prospective cohort of patients with MS who developed PML under NTZ therapy (pre-PML) and non-PML NTZ-treated patients (NTZ-ctr); (2) a cohort of patients whose blood was collected during PML; (3) an independent cohort of non-PML NTZ-treated patients with serum NFL determinations at 2 years (replication cohort); and (4) a cohort of patients whose blood was collected during exacerbations.

Results: Serum NFL levels were significantly increased after 2 years of NTZ treatment in pre-PML patients compared with NTZ-ctr.