DX05
Immunological Markers and Conventional and Advanced MRI after Interferon Beta-1a for Relapsing–Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Friday, May 30, 2014: 2:20 PM
Coronado B
Silva Markovic-Plese, MD , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Yazhong Tao, PhD , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Xin Zhang, MD , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Michael G. Dwyer, PhD , Department of Neurology, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, Department of Neurology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Cheryl Kennedy, LMSW, MPH , Department of Neurology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, Buffalo, NY
Niels Bergsland, MS , Department of Neurology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, Buffalo, NY
Deepa P Ramasamy, MD , Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Jacqueline Durfee, BSc , Department of Neurology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, Buffalo, NY
David Hojnacki, MD , Department of Neurology, State University of New York at Buffalo The Jacobs Neurological Institute, Buffalo, NY
Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD , Department of Neurology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Brooke Hayward, SM, MBA , EMD Serono, Inc., Rockland, MA
Fernando Dangond, MD , EMD Serono, Inc., Rockland, MA
Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD , Department of Neurology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, Buffalo, NY


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Background: Voxel-wise magnetization transfer ratio (VW-MTR) imaging is sensitive to myelin content changes in normal-appearing brain tissue (NABT) and in lesions of patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), where decreasing and increasing volumes of VW-MTR are suggestive of demyelination and remyelination, respectively.

Objectives: To investigate correlations between immunological biomarkers and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings following treatment with interferon (IFN) beta-1a given subcutaneously (SC) in patients with RRMS who had ≥1 relapse in the 12 months prior to participation in a 6-month pilot study (NCT01085318).

Methods: Changes in percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were analyzed for correlations with volume changes in NABT and MS lesions (by conventional MRI and VW-MTR imaging) at baseline and 6 months after treatment with thrice-weekly IFN beta-1a SC 44 μg by Spearman’s rank correlation.

Results: 15/23 patients had ≥1 relapse in the 12 months prior to study participation. Increases in percentage of interleukin (IL)-4–expressing CD8+ T cells correlated with decreasing T2 lesion volume (r=–0.58; p=0.030). Increases in percentage of IL-10–expressing CD8+ T cells correlated with decreasing T1 lesion volume (r=–0.55, p=0.043). Increases in the percentage of IL-10–expressing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells correlated with higher volume of increasing VW-MTR in NABT (r=0.62 and r=0.56; p=0.018 and p=0.037, respectively). Decreases in percentage of IL-17F–expressing CD4+ T cells correlated with lower volume of decreasing VW-MTR in NABT (r=0.69; p=0.006).

Conclusions: Elevated percentage of anti-inflammatory IL-10–expressing T cells correlated with increasing VW-MTR volume in NABT, suggestive of remyelination, and increasing IL-4 and IL-10 correlated with decreasing lesion volume. Decreasing percentage of pro-inflammatory IL-17F cytokine-expressing CD4+ cells correlated with a smaller volume of decreasing VW-MTR signal in NABT, suggestive of decreased demyelination in patients with RRMS treated with IFN beta-1a SC.

See more of: Disease Management, Mechanisms, and Treatment (Platform/Oral)
See more of: CMSC
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