Journal article

Levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in patients with multiple sclerosis.

  • Naegelin Y Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, Departments of Medicine, Clinical Research, Biomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital and University of Basel, Basel, 4031, Switzerland.
  • Saeuberli K School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AX, United Kingdom.
  • Schaedelin S Clinical Trial Unit, Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, 4031, Switzerland.
  • Dingsdale H School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AX, United Kingdom.
  • Magon S Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, Departments of Medicine, Clinical Research, Biomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital and University of Basel, Basel, 4031, Switzerland.
  • Baranzini S Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
  • Amann M Medical Image Analysis Center (MIAC) AG, Basel, 4051, Switzerland.
  • Parmar K Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, Departments of Medicine, Clinical Research, Biomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital and University of Basel, Basel, 4031, Switzerland.
  • Tsagkas C Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, Departments of Medicine, Clinical Research, Biomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital and University of Basel, Basel, 4031, Switzerland.
  • Calabrese P Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, Departments of Medicine, Clinical Research, Biomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital and University of Basel, Basel, 4031, Switzerland.
  • Penner IK Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany.
  • Kappos L Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, Departments of Medicine, Clinical Research, Biomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital and University of Basel, Basel, 4031, Switzerland.
  • Barde YA School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AX, United Kingdom.
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  • 2020-10-08
Published in:
  • Annals of clinical and translational neurology. - 2020
English OBJECTIVE
To determine the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the serum of patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) to evaluate the potential of serum BDNF as a biomarker for MS.


METHODS
Using a recently validated enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) we measured BDNF in patients with MS (pwMS), diagnosed according to the 2001 McDonald criteria and aged between 18 and 70 years, participating in a long-term cohort study with annual clinical visits, including blood sampling, neuropsychological testing, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The results were compared with an age- and sex-matched cohort of healthy controls (HC). Correlations between BDNF levels and a range of clinical and magnetic resonance imaging variables were assessed using an adjusted linear model.


RESULTS
In total, 259 pwMS and 259 HC were included, with a mean age of 44.42 ± 11.06 and 44.31 ± 11.26 years respectively. Eleven had a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), 178 relapsing remitting MS (RRMS), 56 secondary progressive MS (SPMS), and 14 primary progressive MS (PPMS). Compared with controls, mean BDNF levels were lower by 8 % (p˂0.001) in pwMS. The level of BDNF in patients with SPMS was lower than in RRMS (p = 0.004).


INTERPRETATION
We conclude that while the use of comparatively large cohorts enables the detection of a significant difference in BDNF levels between pwMS and HC, the difference is small and unlikely to usefully inform decision-making processes at an individual patient level.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/139347
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