Plasma neurofilament light chain as a biomarker of neuronal damage in multiple sclerosis

Introduction

The identification of biomarkers of disease progression continues to be a necessity in the approach to multiple sclerosis (MS), a disabling neurological disease more common in young adults, which can have different phenotypes, among which relapsing-remitting (RRMS), primary progressive (PPMS) and secondary progressive (SPMS). Among biomarkers, the determination of neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels in both cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum have been shown to predict the severity of MS. Therefore, the objective of the present work was to evaluate the levels of NfL in patients in different stages of MS.

Methodology

A descriptive study was carried out, which included 70 patients diagnosed with MS; plasma NfL levels were analyzed using the adsorption enzyme immunoassay kit and the levels of the MS patients were compared with the levels of control patients.

Results

In patients with MS, 87,14% were women, 21,43% were taking antidepressant drugs, 48,57% had vision complications.and 80% had spinal injuries. It was found that patients with RRMS phenotype and of male sex have higher levels of NfL.

Conclusions

The results show an increase in NfL in RRMS and in male patients, which suggests that there may be greater neuroaxonal deterioration in men and that they have this disease phenotype. However, future studies aimed at optimizing, standardizing, and implementing new technologies are necessary to address the predictive value of these biomarkers that can contribute to the management of the disease.