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Sahi N, Haider L, Chung K, Prados Carrasco F, Kanber B, Samson R, Thompson AJ, Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott CAM, Trip SA, Brownlee W, Ciccarelli O, Barkhof F, Tur C, Houlden H, Chard D. Genetic influences on disease course and severity, 30 years after a clinically isolated syndrome. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad255. [PMID: 37841069 PMCID: PMC10576246 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Revised: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis risk has a well-established polygenic component, yet the genetic contribution to disease course and severity remains unclear and difficult to examine. Accurately measuring disease progression requires long-term study of clinical and radiological outcomes with sufficient follow-up duration to confidently confirm disability accrual and multiple sclerosis phenotypes. In this retrospective study, we explore genetic influences on long-term disease course and severity; in a unique cohort of clinically isolated syndrome patients with homogenous 30-year disease duration, deep clinical phenotyping and advanced MRI metrics. Sixty-one clinically isolated syndrome patients [41 female (67%): 20 male (33%)] underwent clinical and MRI assessment at baseline, 1-, 5-, 10-, 14-, 20- and 30-year follow-up (mean age ± standard deviation: 60.9 ± 6.5 years). After 30 years, 29 patients developed relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, 15 developed secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and 17 still had a clinically isolated syndrome. Twenty-seven genes were investigated for associations with clinical outcomes [including disease course and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS)] and brain MRI (including white matter lesions, cortical lesions, and brain tissue volumes) at the 30-year follow-up. Genetic associations with changes in EDSS, relapses, white matter lesions and brain atrophy (third ventricular and medullary measurements) over 30 years were assessed using mixed-effects models. HLA-DRB1*1501-positive (n = 26) patients showed faster white matter lesion accrual [+1.96 lesions/year (0.64-3.29), P = 3.8 × 10-3], greater 30-year white matter lesion volumes [+11.60 ml, (5.49-18.29), P = 1.27 × 10-3] and higher annualized relapse rates [+0.06 relapses/year (0.005-0.11), P = 0.031] compared with HLA-DRB1*1501-negative patients (n = 35). PVRL2-positive patients (n = 41) had more cortical lesions (+0.83 [0.08-1.66], P = 0.042), faster EDSS worsening [+0.06 points/year (0.02-0.11), P = 0.010], greater 30-year EDSS [+1.72 (0.49-2.93), P = 0.013; multiple sclerosis cases: +2.60 (1.30-3.87), P = 2.02 × 10-3], and greater risk of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis [odds ratio (OR) = 12.25 (1.15-23.10), P = 0.031] than PVRL2-negative patients (n = 18). In contrast, IRX1-positive (n = 30) patients had preserved 30-year grey matter fraction [+0.76% (0.28-1.29), P = 8.4 × 10-3], lower risk of cortical lesions [OR = 0.22 (0.05-0.99), P = 0.049] and lower 30-year EDSS [-1.35 (-0.87,-3.44), P = 0.026; multiple sclerosis cases: -2.12 (-0.87, -3.44), P = 5.02 × 10-3] than IRX1-negative patients (n = 30). In multiple sclerosis cases, IRX1-positive patients also had slower EDSS worsening [-0.07 points/year (-0.01,-0.13), P = 0.015] and lower risk of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis [OR = 0.19 (0.04-0.92), P = 0.042]. These exploratory findings support diverse genetic influences on pathological mechanisms associated with multiple sclerosis disease course. HLA-DRB1*1501 influenced white matter inflammation and relapses, while IRX1 (protective) and PVRL2 (adverse) were associated with grey matter pathology (cortical lesions and atrophy), long-term disability worsening and the risk of developing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nitin Sahi
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Lukas Haider
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image Guided Therapy, Medical University Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Karen Chung
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Ferran Prados Carrasco
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 08018 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Baris Kanber
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Rebecca Samson
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Alan J Thompson
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Claudia A M Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Brain MRI 3T Research Centre, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - S Anand Trip
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Wallace Brownlee
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Biomedical Research Centre, London W1T 7DN, UK
| | - Olga Ciccarelli
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Biomedical Research Centre, London W1T 7DN, UK
| | - Frederik Barkhof
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Biomedical Research Centre, London W1T 7DN, UK
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Centre, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Carmen Tur
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- MS Centre of Catalonia (Cemcat), Vall d'Hebron Institute of Research, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Henry Houlden
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Queen’s Square House, Queen’s Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Declan Chard
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Biomedical Research Centre, London W1T 7DN, UK
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