Serum GFAP and NfL as disease severity and prognostic biomarkers in patients with aquaporin-4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder
Creators: name: Schindler, Patrick
name: Grittner, Ulrike
name: Oechtering, Johanna
name: Leppert, David
name: Siebert, Nadja
name: Duchow, Ankelien S.
name: Oertel, Frederike C.
name: Asseyer, Susanna
name: Kuchling, Joseph
name: Zimmermann, Hanna G.
name: Brandt, Alexander U.
name: Benkert, Pascal
name: Reindl, Markus
name: Jarius, Sven
name: Paul, Friedemann
name: Bellmann-Strobl, Judith
name: Kuhle, Jens
name: Ruprecht, Klemens
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder
subject: Glial fibrillary acidic protein
subject: Neurofilament light chain protein
subject: Aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G
subject: Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein immunoglobulin G
subject: Biomarker
subject: Serum
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Background: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a frequently disabling neuroinflammatory syndrome with a relapsing course. Blood-based disease severity and prognostic biomarkers for NMOSD are a yet unmet clinical need. Here, we evaluated serum glial fibrillary acidic protein (sGFAP) and neurofilament light (sNfL) as disease severity and prognostic biomarkers in patients with aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin (Ig)G positive (AQP4-IgG(+)) NMOSD. Methods: sGFAP and sNfL were determined by single-molecule array technology in a prospective cohort of 33 AQP4-IgG(+) patients with NMOSD, 32 of which were in clinical remission at study baseline. Sixteen myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein IgG-positive (MOG-IgG(+)) patients and 38 healthy persons were included as controls. Attacks were recorded in all AQP4-IgG(+) patients over a median observation period of 4.25 years. Results: In patients with AQP4-IgG(+) NMOSD, median sGFAP (109.2 pg/ml) was non-significantly higher than in MOG-IgG(+) patients (81.1 pg/ml; p = 0.83) and healthy controls (67.7 pg/ml; p = 0.07); sNfL did not substantially differ between groups. Yet, in AQP4-IgG(+), but not MOG-IgG(+) patients, higher sGFAP was associated with worse clinical disability scores, including the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS, standardized effect size = 1.30, p = 0.007) and Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC, standardized effect size = - 1.28, p = 0.01). While in AQP4-IgG(+), but not MOG-IgG(+) patients, baseline sGFAP and sNfL were positively associated (standardized effect size = 2.24, p = 0.001), higher sNfL was only non-significantly associated with worse EDSS (standardized effect size = 1.09, p = 0.15) and MSFC (standardized effect size = - 1.75, p = 0.06) in patients with AQP4-IgG(+) NMOSD. Patients with AQP4-IgG(+) NMOSD with sGFAP &gt; 90 pg/ml at baseline had a shorter time to a future attack than those with sGFAP &lt;= 90 pg/ml (adjusted hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] = 11.6 [1.3-105.6], p = 0.03). In contrast, baseline sNfL levels above the 75(th) age adjusted percentile were not associated with a shorter time to a future attack in patients with AQP4-IgG(+) NMOSD. Conclusion: These findings suggest a potential role for sGFAP as biomarker for disease severity and future disease activity in patients with AQP4-IgG(+) NMOSD in phases of clinical remission.