Abstract Details

Title Serum GFAP Associates with Neurofilament Light and Disease Severity in Late Multiple Sclerosis

Topic Multiple Sclerosis

Presentation(s) P5 - Poster Session 5 (5:30 PM-6:30 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 15-017

Objective To measure the serum level of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and to evaluate the usability of serum GFAP as a biomarker of progressive disease and disease severity in MS.

Background Levels of two potential soluble biomarkers, GFAP and neurofilament light chain (NfL) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been shown to associate with multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression. Now, both biomarkers can be detected reliably in in serum and importantly, their serum levels correlate well with their CSF levels.

Design/Methods Clinical course, EDSS, disease duration, patient age and MRI parameters were reviewed in 79 MS patients in this cross-sectional hospital-based study. Serum samples were collected for measurement of GFAP and NfL concentrations using single molecule array (Simoa) assay. A cohort of healthy controls was evaluated for comparison.

Results Higher serum concentrations of both GFAP and NfL were associated with higher EDSS, older age, longer disease duration, progressive disease course and MRI pathology.

Conclusions Earlier studies have demonstrated that GFAP, unlike NFL, is not increased in association with acute focal inflammation-related nervous system damage. Our work suggests that GFAP serum level associates with disease progression in MS and could potentially serve as an easily measurable biomarker of CNS pathology related to disease progression in MS.

Authors/Disclosures
Laura Airas, MD, PhD (Turku University Hospital) PRESENTER	Dr. Airas has nothing to disclose.
	No disclosure on file
Eero Rissanen, MD (C/o Turku University Hospital)	Dr. Rissanen has received research support from Sigrid Juselius Foundation.
	No disclosure on file
Marjo Nylund (Turku University Hospital)	Ms. Nylund has received research support from The Finnish MS Foundation. Ms. Nylund has received research support from Maire Taponen Foundation. Ms. Nylund has received research support from The Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Jens Kuhle, MD	Dr. Kuhle has nothing to disclose.

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