The role of ADC values within the normal-appearing brain in the prognosis of multiple sclerosis activity during interferon-β therapy in the 3-year follow-up: a preliminary report

• Published in: Scientific reports 2020-07, Vol.10 (1), p.12828, Article 12828
• Main Authors: Zacharzewska-Gondek, Anna, Pokryszko-Dragan, Anna, Budrewicz, Sławomir, Sąsiadek, Marek, Trybek, Grzegorz, Bladowska, Joanna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/53/2422; 692/617/375/1411/1666; Adult; Autoimmune diseases; Diffusion coefficient; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Gray Matter - diagnostic imaging; Gray Matter - pathology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Interferon-beta - therapeutic use; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; multidisciplinary; Multiple sclerosis; Multiple Sclerosis - drug therapy; Multiple Sclerosis - pathology; Neuroimaging; Patients; Prognosis; Regression analysis; Retrospective Studies; Risk; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Substantia grisea; Time Factors; White Matter - diagnostic imaging; White Matter - pathology; β-Interferon
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-69383-3

Predictors of multiple sclerosis (MS) activity during disease-modifying treatment are being extensively investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the prognosis of NEDA (no evidence of disease activity) status during IFN-β (interferon-β) treatment, using apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements obtained at initial MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). In 87 MS patients treated with IFN-β, ADC values were calculated for 13 regions of normal-appearing white and grey matter (NAWM, NAGM) based on MRI performed with a 1.5 T magnet before (MS0, n = 45) or after one year of therapy (MS1, n = 42). Associations were evaluated between ADC, conventional MRI findings, demographic and clinical factors and NEDA status within the following 3 years using logistic, Cox and multinomial logistic regression models. NEDA rates in the MS0 group were 64.4%, 46.5% and 33.3% after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year of treatment, respectively and in MS1 patients 71.4% and 48.7% for the periods 1st–2nd and 1st–3rd years of treatment, respectively. ADC values in the NAWM regions contributed to loss of NEDA and its clinical and radiological components, with a 1–3% increase in the risk of NEDA loss (p = 0.0001–0.0489) in both groups. ADC measurements may have an additional prognostic value with regard to NEDA status.