RT Journal Article
T1 Cortical Thickness and Serum NfL Explain Cognitive Dysfunction in Newly Diagnosed Patients With Multiple Sclerosis.
A1 Cruz-Gomez, Álvaro J
A1 Forero, Lucía
A1 Lozano-Soto, Elena
A1 Cano-Cano, Fátima
A1 Sanmartino, Florencia
A1 Rashid-López, Raúl
A1 Paz-Expósito, Jsé
A1 Gómez Ramirez, Jaime D
A1 Espinosa-Rosso, Raúl
A1 González-Rosa, Javier J
K1 Neurodegeneration
K1 Cortical thickness
K1 Neurofilament light chain (sNfL)
K1 Gray matter atrophy
K1 Cognitive performance
AB To determine the relative importance of global or regional MRI and blood markers of neurodegeneration and neuroaxonal injury in predicting cognitive performance for recently diagnosed patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Thirty-five newly diagnosed patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and 23 healthy controls (HCs) simultaneously completed a full clinical and neuropsychological assessment, structural brain MRI, and serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) level test. Linear regression analyses were performed to determine which global or regional measures of gray matter (GM) atrophy and cortical thickness (CT), in combination with sNfL levels and clinical scores, are most strongly related to neuropsychological impairment. Compared with HCs, patients with MS showed bilateral thalamic GM atrophy (left, p = 0.033; right, p = 0.047) and diminished CT, particularly in the right superior and transverse temporal gyri (p = 0.045; p = 0.037). Regional atrophy failed to add predictive variance, whereas anxiety symptoms, sNfL, and global CT were the best predictors (R2 = 0.404; p < 0.001) of cognitive outcomes, with temporal thickness accounting for greater variance in cognitive deficits than global CT. Thalamic GM atrophy and thinning in temporal regions represent a distinctive MRI trait in the early stages of MS. Although sNfL levels alone do not clearly differentiate HCs and patients with RRMS, in combination with global and regional CT, sNfL levels can better explain the presence of underlying cognitive deficits. Hence, cortical thinning and sNfL increases can be considered 2 parallel neurodegenerative markers in the pathogenesis of progression in newly diagnosed patients with MS.
PB Neurology
SN 2332-7812
YR 2021
FD 2021-08-31
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10668/25264
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10668/25264
LA en
NO Cruz-Gomez ÁJ, Forero L, Lozano-Soto E, Cano-Cano F, Sanmartino F, Rashid-López R, et al. Cortical Thickness and Serum NfL Explain Cognitive Dysfunction in Newly Diagnosed Patients With Multiple Sclerosis. Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm. 2021;8(6):e1074. Published 2021 Aug 31.
NO This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant: RTI2018-096951-A-I00) and the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant: RYC-2015-18467).
DS RISalud
RD Jul 2, 2025