Optical coherence tomography versus other biomarkers: Associations with physical and cognitive disability in multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a biomarker of neuroaxonal loss in multiple sclerosis (MS).

OBJECTIVE

The objective was to assess the relative role of OCT, next to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and serum markers of disability in MS.

METHODS

A total of 100 patients and 52 controls underwent OCT to determine peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layers (GCIPL). Serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL), total lesion volume (TLV), and brain parenchymal fraction (BPF) were also assessed. The associations of OCT with disability were examined in linear regression models with correction for age, vision, and education.

RESULTS

In patients, pRNFL was associated with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT;

CONCLUSION

The associations of OCT measures with cognitive and physical disability were independent of serum and brain MRI markers of neuroaxonal loss. OCT can be an important tool for stratification in MS, while longitudinal studies using combinations of biomarkers are warranted.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: N. Cerdá-Fuertes, M. Stoessel, S. Pless, M. Barakovic, AM. Maceski, C. Álvarez González, S. Schaedelin, P. Benkert, and K. Gugleta report no disclosures relevant to the manuscript; G. Mickeliunas received research support from the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences; A. Cagol is supported by EUROSTAR E!113682 HORIZON2020 and received speaker honoraria from Novartis; M. D’Souza received travel support from Bayer AG, Teva, and Genzyme and research support from the University Hospital Basel (USB); P. Calabrese has received honoraria for speaking at scientific meetings, serving at scientific advisory boards and consulting activities from Abbvie, Actelion, Almirall, Bayer-Schering, Biogen, EISAI, Lundbeck, Merck Serono, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis and Teva. He also receives research Grants from the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Society (SMSG), and the Swiss National Research Foundation; T. Derfuss received speaker fees, research support, travel support, and/or served on Advisory Boards, data safety monitoring boards, or Steering Committees of Actelion, Alexion, Celgene, Polyneuron, Novartis Pharma, Merck Serono, Biogen, Teva, Bayer-Schering, GeNeuro, Mitsubishi Pharma, MedDay, Roche, and Genzyme; T. Sprenger received research grants from the Swiss MS Society, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Switzerland, EFIC-Grünenthal grant, and Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The current (DKD Helios Klinik Wiesbaden) or previous (USB) institutions of T. Sprenger have received payments for speaking or consultation from Biogen Idec, Eli Lilly, Allergan, Actelion, ATI, Mitsubishi Pharma, Novartis, Genzyme, and Teva; C. Granziera: The USB, as the employer of C. Granziera, has received the following fees which were used exclusively for research support: (1) advisory board and consultancy fees from Actelion, Genzyme-Sanofi, Novartis, GeNeuro, and Roche; (2) speaker fees from Genzyme-Sanofi, Novartis, GeNeuro, and Roche; and (3) research support from Siemens, GeNeuro, and Roche. C. Granziera is supported by the SNSF grant PP00P3_176984, the Stiftung zur Förderung der gastroenterologischen und allgemeinen klinischen Forschung, and the EUROSTAR E!113682 HORIZON2020; Y. Naegelin institution has received financial support for lectures from Teva and Celgene, grant support from Innosuisse (Swiss Innovation Agency), and grant support from Novartis and Roche; L. Kappos: institutional research support: steering committee, advisory board, consultancy fees: Actelion, Bayer HealthCare, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genzyme, Janssen, Japan Tobacco, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Santhera, Shionogi, and TG Therapeutics, speaker fees: Bayer HealthCare, Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Roche, and Sanofi; support of educational activities: Allergan, Bayer HealthCare, Biogen, CSL Behring, Desitin, Genzyme, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Pfizer, Sanofi, Shire, and Teva; license fees for Neurostatus products; and grants: Bayer HealthCare, Biogen, European Union, Innosuisse, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Swiss MS Society, and Swiss National Research Foundation; J. Kuhle received speaker fees, research support, travel support, and/or served on advisory boards by Swiss MS Society, Swiss National Research Foundation (320030_189140/1 and 320030_212534/1), University of Basel, Progressive MS Alliance, Bayer, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Merck, Novartis, Octave Bioscience, Roche, and Sanofi; A. Papadopoulou has consulted for Teva, received speaker fees from Sanofi-Genzyme and travel support from Bayer AG, Teva, UCB-Pharma AG, and Hoffmann La Roche. Her research was/is being supported by the University of Basel, the University Hospital of Basel, the Swiss MS Society, the Swiss National Science Foundation, and the “Stiftung zur Förderung der gastroenterologischen und allgemeinen klinischen Forschung sowie der medizinischen Bildauswertung.”