Higher serum uric acid levels in multiple sclerosis patients after long-term interferon beta treatment

© 2017, University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Science. All rights reserved. Interferon beta is a safe and efficacious treatment for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). However, there is some evidence that uric acid, a scavenger of peroxynitrite, is involved in MS pathology and that increasing serum uric acid levels might have beneficial therapeutic effects. The aim of this study is to investigate serum uric acid levels in MS patients before and after long-term interferon beta treatment. Blood samples from 101 MS patients (53 receiving interferon beta 1a treatment and 48 receiving interferon beta 1b treatment; 28 male and 73 female; mean age at treatment onset 32,4±7,3 years; mean duration of disease at treatment onset 5,1±3,2 years; mean EDSS 2±1,3) before and after interferon beta treatment (mean treatment duration 3±2 years) were analysed. Serum uric acid levels were measured using a quantitative enzymatic assay (Elitech Diagnostic, Sees, France). MS patients had significantly increased serum uric acid levels after treatment compared with those at the beginning of treatment (272,31±78,21 μmol/l vs. 210,17±53,65 μmol/l; p=0,019, Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney U-test). We did not find significant differences in serum uric acid levels between the interferon beta 1a and interferon beta 1b groups (p=0.98). These results indicate that one of the beneficial effects of interferon beta in MS might be based on the elevation of serum uric acid levels as a natural scavenger of peroxynitrite

VEP Score of a Left Eye Had Predictive Values for Achieving NEDA-3 over Ten Years in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of visual evoked potentials (VEPs) in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in achieving no evidence of disease activity-3 (NEDA-3) during up to 10 years of first-line immunomodulatory therapy and to determine whether the lateralization of optic nerve damage may have prognostic significance concerning clinical disability and response to therapy.Methods: In a retrospective study, a total of 83 patients (53 female and 30 male) with RRMS participated. The average age of patients was 38.31 ± 9.01. Patients were followed for 2, 5 or 10 years. VEPs were measured at the beginning of the follow-up and after many years of monitoring. Data on optical neuritis (ON) were obtained from medical history. The degree of disability was estimated by the neurologist (independent rater), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the endocranium was performed with gadolinium contrasts. Achieving NEDA-3 is considered a favorable outcome of treatments.Results: Among those treated, 19 (22.9%) reached NEDA-3, while 64 (77.1%) did not reach NEDA-3. The values of the evoked potential (EP) score for the left eye (r = 0.008, odds ratio (OR) = 0.344 (0.156–0.757)) and latency for the left eye (r = 0.042, OR = 0.966 (0.934–0.999)) at the onset of disease were predictive factors for achieving NEDA-3. Conclusions: A normal VEP at the beginning of RRMS increases the chance of reaching NEDA-3 by about six times