Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population.
| Clinical and demographic characteristics | HCs (n = 47) | PwMS (n = 120) | RRMS (n = 84) | PMS (n = 36) | P‐value PwMS vs. HCs | P‐value RRMS vs. PMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female, n (%) | 34 (72.3) | 85 (70.8) | 57 (67.9) | 28 (77.8) | 1.000 | 0.273 |
| Age at baseline, mean (SD) | 44.5 (15.6) | 48.1 (11.2) | 44.6 (10.9) | 56.5 (6.3) | 0.148 | <0.001 |
| Follow–up period, mean (SD) | 5.5 (0.5) | 5.5 (0.5) | 5.5 (0.6) | 5.5 (0.4) | 0.821 | 0.863 |
| Disease duration at baseline, mean (SD) | – | 16.2 (10.3) | 13.4 (8.9) | 22.6 (10.6) | – | <0.001 |
| EDSS at baseline, median (IQR) | – | 2.5 (1.5–5.0) | 2.0 (1.5–3.0) | 5.0 (3.5–6.5) | – | <0.001 |
| EDSS at follow‐up, median (IQR) | – | 3.5 (2.0–6.0) | 2.5 (1.5–3.63) | 6.0 (3.8–6.5) | – | <0.001 |
| EDSS absolute change, mean (SD) | – | 0.4 (0.9) | 0.4 (1.0) | 0.3 (0.7) | – | 0.663 |
| Relapse rate, mean (SD) | – | 0.181 (0.424) | 0.219 (0.466) | 0.090 (0.287) | – | 0.008* |
| sNfL at baseline, median (IQR) | 15.3 (8.3–23.1) | 20.6 (13.8–31.1) | 18.1 (12.8–26.7) | 25.8 (19.7–40.6) | 0.002 | 0.172 |
| sNfL at follow‐up, median (IQR) | 16.7 (7.9–23.8) | 23.8 (16.2–32.3) | 20.6 (14.3–27.0) | 32.2 (24.5–47.3) | 0.002 | 0.028 |
| sNfL absolute change, median (IQR) | 2.3 (−1.1–5.9) | 2.1 (−2.8–7.9) | 0.9 (−4.8–5.9) | 6.7 (−0.7–14.6) | 0.976 | 0.612 |
| LMCE at follow‐up, n (%) | – | 31 (35.2) | 17 (29.3) | 14 (46.7) | – | 0.106 |
| DMT use at baseline, n (%) | ||||||
| Interferon‐β | – | 43 (35.8%) | 29 (34.5%) | 14 (38.9%) | – | 0.096 |
| I Glatiramer acetate | – | 29 (24.2%) | 18 (21.4%) | 11 (30.6%) | ||
| I Natalizumab | – | 18 (15%) | 17 (20.2%) | 1 (2.8%) | ||
| I Off–label medications | – | 2 (1.7%) | 1 (1.2%) | 1 (2.8%) | ||
| I No DMT | – | 28 (23.3%) | 19 (22.6%) | 9 (25%) | ||
| I Switchers/remaining on same DMT, n | – | 42/78 | 33/51 | 9/27 | – | 0.242 |
HCs, healthy controls; PwMS, persons with multiple sclerosis; RRMS, relapsing, remitting multiple sclerosis; PMS, progressive multiple sclerosis; EDSS, Expanded Disability Status Scale; sNfL, serum neurofilament light chain; LMCE, leptomeningeal contrast enhancement; DMT, disease modifying treatment; SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range.
Off–label medications included mitoxantrone (1) and azathioprine (1).
3D‐FLAIR postcontrast imaging required for LMCE analysis was available in 88 MS patients (58 RRMS, 30 PMS).
Student’s t‐test, Mann–Whitney U‐test, negative binomial regression and χ 2 test were used appropriately.
The differences in sNfL levels at baseline and follow‐up were calculated with analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) adjusted for baseline age and utilized logarithmically transformed sNfL data. In bold are displayed significant P‐values.
The differences in relapse rate was calculated using the exact count data and with negative binomial regression modeling.