Introduction

Changes in the levels of circulating markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, and neurotrophic factors might be a good candidate for the prediction of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, the correlation between the mentioned circulating markers with the Cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery (CANTAB) task outcomes was determined in MS patients.

Methods

The CANTAB (paired-associate learning (PAL), reaction time (RTI), rapid visual information processing (RVP), and spatial working memory tasks (SWM)) was completed by the patients. Accordingly, the serum levels of interferon-γ (INF-γ), C-reactive protein (CRP), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), glial cell line–derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and the acetylcholine esterase (AChE) activity were measured. Cognitive impairment status and the correlation between the circulating factors with the CANTAB outcomes were determined.

Results

The cognitively impaired (CI) patients appropriately differentiated from not cognitively impaired (NCI) ones using the CANTAB tasks. The serum levels of MDA, TAC, CRP, INF-γ, and GDNF correlated with the cognitive scores in MS patients (p < 0.05). After adjusting for age, sex, disease duration, and disability levels (covariates in a regression model), the MDA, INF-γ, and GDNF factors levels were statistically different between CI and NCI groups (p < 0.05).

Discussion

The mentioned markers might predict the cognitive impairment progress and be used as an index of its detection, in addition to neuropsychological assessments, in MS patients.

中文翻译：

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循环炎症、氧化应激和神经营养因子水平与多发性硬化症患者认知结果的相关性

介绍

炎症、氧化应激和神经营养因子循环标志物水平的变化可能是预测多发性硬化症 (MS) 认知障碍的良好候选者。在这里，在 MS 患者中确定了上述循环标志物与剑桥神经心理学测试自动电池 (CANTAB) 任务结果之间的相关性。

方法

CANTAB（配对联想学习（PAL）、反应时间（RTI）、快速视觉信息处理（RVP）和空间工作记忆任务（SWM））由患者完成。因此，干扰素-γ（INF-γ）、C反应蛋白（CRP）、睫状神经营养因子（CNTF）、胶质细胞源性神经营养因子（GDNF）和脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）的血清水平、丙二醛 (MDA)、总抗氧化能力 (TAC) 和乙酰胆碱酯酶 (AChE) 活性进行了测量。确定了认知障碍状态和循环因素与 CANTAB 结果之间的相关性。

结果

使用 CANTAB 任务将认知障碍 (CI) 患者与非认知障碍 (NCI) 患者适当区分开来。MS患者血清MDA、TAC、CRP、INF-γ、GDNF水平与认知评分相关（p  < 0.05）。在调整年龄、性别、病程和残疾水平（回归模型中的协变量）后，CI 和 NCI 组的 MDA、INF-γ 和 GDNF 因子水平存在统计学差异（p  < 0.05）。

讨论

除了神经心理学评估外，上述标志物可能预测 MS 患者的认知障碍进展并用作其检测的指标。