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Maggi P, Bulcke CV, Pedrini E, Bugli C, Sellimi A, Wynen M, Stölting A, Mullins WA, Kalaitzidis G, Lolli V, Perrotta G, El Sankari S, Duprez T, Li X, Calabresi PA, van Pesch V, Reich DS, Absinta M. B cell depletion therapy does not resolve chronic active multiple sclerosis lesions. EBioMedicine 2023; 94:104701. [PMID: 37437310 PMCID: PMC10436266 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104701] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic active lesions (CAL) in multiple sclerosis (MS) have been observed even in patients taking high-efficacy disease-modifying therapy, including B-cell depletion. Given that CAL are a major determinant of clinical progression, including progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA), understanding the predicted activity and real-world effects of targeting specific lymphocyte populations is critical for designing next-generation treatments to mitigate chronic inflammation in MS. METHODS We analyzed published lymphocyte single-cell transcriptomes from MS lesions and bioinformatically predicted the effects of depleting lymphocyte subpopulations (including CD20 B-cells) from CAL via gene-regulatory-network machine-learning analysis. Motivated by the results, we performed in vivo MRI assessment of PRL changes in 72 adults with MS, 46 treated with anti-CD20 antibodies and 26 untreated, over ∼2 years. FINDINGS Although only 4.3% of lymphocytes in CAL were CD20 B-cells, their depletion is predicted to affect microglial genes involved in iron/heme metabolism, hypoxia, and antigen presentation. In vivo, tracking 202 PRL (150 treated) and 175 non-PRL (124 treated), none of the treated paramagnetic rims disappeared at follow-up, nor was there a treatment effect on PRL for lesion volume, magnetic susceptibility, or T1 time. PIRA occurred in 20% of treated patients, more frequently in those with ≥4 PRL (p = 0.027). INTERPRETATION Despite predicted effects on microglia-mediated inflammatory networks in CAL and iron metabolism, anti-CD20 therapies do not fully resolve PRL after 2-year MRI follow up. Limited tissue turnover of B-cells, inefficient passage of anti-CD20 antibodies across the blood-brain-barrier, and a paucity of B-cells in CAL could explain our findings. FUNDING Intramural Research Program of NINDS, NIH; NINDS grants R01NS082347 and R01NS082347; Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation; Cariplo Foundation (grant #1677), FRRB Early Career Award (grant #1750327); Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS).
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Affiliation(s)
- Pietro Maggi
- Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium; Neuroinflammation Imaging Lab (NIL), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Colin Vanden Bulcke
- Neuroinflammation Imaging Lab (NIL), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Edoardo Pedrini
- Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Céline Bugli
- Plateforme Technologique de Support en Méthodologie et Calcul Statistique, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Amina Sellimi
- Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Maxence Wynen
- Neuroinflammation Imaging Lab (NIL), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Anna Stölting
- Neuroinflammation Imaging Lab (NIL), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - William A Mullins
- Translational Neuroradiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Grigorios Kalaitzidis
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Valentina Lolli
- Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Gaetano Perrotta
- Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Souraya El Sankari
- Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Thierry Duprez
- Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Xu Li
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Peter A Calabresi
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Vincent van Pesch
- Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Daniel S Reich
- Translational Neuroradiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Martina Absinta
- Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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