Blood-brain barrier damage associates with glia-related cytokines in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Multiple Sclerosis

• Published in: Multiple sclerosis and related disorders 2024-02, Vol.82, p.105403-105403, Article 105403
• Main Authors: Puthenparampil, M, Marin, A, Zanotelli, G, Mauceri, VA, De Napoli, F, Gaggiola, M, Miscioscia, A, Ponzano, M, Bovis, F, Perini, P, Rinaldi, F, Molon, B, Gallo, P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Albumin quotient; Cerebrospinal Fluid; CXCL-10; Mutliple sclerosis; QALB
• ISSN: 2211-0348; 2211-0356
• DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2023.105403

The presence of Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) dysfunction is defined by albumin quotient (QALB) and characterize a group of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients at clinical onset. We evaluated the concentration in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 87 cytokines, to better characterize the CSF inflammatory pattern in presence of BBB damage. In an exploratory cohort, CSF cytokines were evaluated by means of Multiplex technology (Bio-Plex Pro-Human Cytokine, GF and Diabetes 27-Plex Panel, Bio-Plex Pro-Human Chemokines 40-Plex Panel, Bio-Plex Pro-Human Inflammation Assays 37-Plex Panel) in a cohort of Other Not Inflammatory Neurological Disorders (ONIND) and in cohort of patients with MS, stratified according to BBB damage into QALB+ and QALB− MS patients. In the validation cohort, we evaluated the relevant molecules in a cohort of MS patients, stratified again into QALB+ and QALB−, including also Neurofilament Light (NfL) and Chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) CSF concentration. While MIP-1α, CXCL-13, and CCL-22 CSF concentrations were higher in both MS groups compared to ONIND, in QALB+ MS CSF concentrations of CXCL-9 (17.85 ± 4.69 pg/mL), CXCL-10 (476.5 ± 324.3 pg/mL), and IL-16 (96.08 ± 86.17 pg/mL) were higher than in QALB− MS (8.98 ± 5368 pg/mL, p