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Einleitung: Die vorgelegte retrospektive Studie fokussiert sich auf Multiple Sklerose-Patient:- innen, die mit Glatiramerazetat behandelt wurden. Analysiert wurden klinische und immuno- logische Parameter. Es wurde geprüft, ob ein Zusammenhang zwischen den Glatiramerazetat spezifischen Antikörpern der Klassen IgM und IgG (Subklassen 1-4) sowie der Konzentration von Neurofilament (NfL) im Serum mit etablierten klinischen Markern besteht, mit dem Ziel, potenzielle Biomarker für die Krankheitsaktivität und somit für das Versagen der Glatiramer- azetattherapie zu evaluieren. Material und Methoden: Das Patientenkollektiv umfasste 56 Patient:innen mit RRMS. Von ihnen waren 72 % therapienaiv, 28 % waren mit Interferon-beta vorbehandelt. Als klinische Parameter wurden EDSS, MSFC und die Anwesenheit von Schüben erfasst. Schubaktivität und Bestimmung von Immunglobulinen und NfL wurden bei neun Visiten erhoben, der EDSS und der MFSC zum Studienbeginn und nach zwölf Monaten. Die Immunglobulinkonzentration wurde mittels ELISA, NfL mit der SiMoA-Technologie bestimmt. Ergebnisse: Glatiramerazetat spezifische Antikörper wurden in unterschiedlichen Ausprägung produziert. Die IgG-Produktion klinisch stabiler Patient:innen war sowohl im M12 als auch im M24 deutlich höher als zum Beginn der Therapie (p < .001). Bis auf die Subklasse IgG3 hatte die Vortherapie keinen Einfluss auf die Antikörper-Produktion. Hinsichtlich des klinischen Outcomes korreliert die absteigende Konzentration von IgG2 mit einer mindestens 20 %-igen Besserung im MSFC nach zwölf Monaten der Glatiramerazetatbehandlung (r = -.301, p = .013). In der Subklasse IgG4 weist die absteigende Konzentration auf stabile oder bessere EDSS-Werte nach zwölfmonatiger Behandlung hin. Unter Glatiramerazetattherapie zeigte sich eine Reduktion des NfL-Spiegels, allerdings nicht signifikant. Die vortherapierten Patient:innen wiesen signifikant höhere Konzentrationen von NfL als therapienaive Patient:innen auf (p < .001). Es ergaben sich keine Unterschiede der NfL-Konzentration zwischen Patient:innen mit und ohne Schubaktivität sowie keine Korrelationen mit anderen klinischen Outcomes. Diskussion: Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass glatiramerazetatspezifische Antikörper und NfL-Spiegel eine Rolle als Biomarker für klinische Aktivität bei mit Glatiramerazetat behandelten Patient:innen spielen könnten und somit unterstützend im Monitoring der Wirksamkeit des Medikaments sein können.:Inhalt Abkürzungsverzeichnis 5 Abstrakte 8 Deutsche Version 8 English Version 9 1 Einleitung und theoretische Grundlagen 10 1.1 Bedeutung der Multiplen Sklerose 10 1.2 Multiple Sklerose 10 1.3 Klinische Verlaufsformen 12 1.4 Histopathologie 14 1.5 Immunpathogenese 15 1.6 Therapie der Multiplen Sklerose 17 1.7 Therapiemonitoring und Biomarker 18 1.7.1 Expanded Disability Status Scale 19 1.7.2 Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite 21 1.7.3 Magnetresonanztomographie 22 1.7.4 Molekulare Biomarker 23 1.8 Glatiramerazetat 25 1.8.1 Geschichte 25 1.8.2 Therapeutische Anwendung 26 1.8.3 Wirkmechanismus 28 1.9 Ziel und Forschungsfragen 29 2 Material und Methoden 32 2.1 Patientenkollektiv 32 2.2 Klinische Kontrollen 33 2.2.1 Anamnese 33 2.2.2 Expanded Disease Disability Scale 34 2.2.3 Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite 35 2.3 Blutentnahmen 36 2.4 Gewinnung und Verarbeitung der Plasmaproben 37 2.5 Glatiramerazetat spezifische IgM- und IgG-Messung 39 2.5.1 Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay 39 2.5.2 Durchführung der GA-spezifischen IgM und IgG Messung 41 2.5.2.1 Coating und Blocken der Platten 41 2.5.2.2 Herstellung der Gebrauchslösungen 41 2.5.2.3 Inkubation mit Plasmaproben 42 2.5.2.4 Detektion und Extinktionsbestimmung 44 2.6 Neurofilament-Messung 45 2.6.1 Grundlagen der SiMoA-Technologie 46 2.6.2 Durchführung 47 2.7 Statistische Auswertung der Daten 48 3 Resultate 49 3.1 Klinische Daten 49 3.1.1 Demographische Daten 49 3.1.2 Klinisches Therapieansprechen 50 3.1.2.1 Schübe 50 3.1.2.2 Expanded Disease Disability Scale und Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite im Therapiezeitraum 50 3.1.2.3 Klinische Response 53 3.2 Immunglobuline 57 3.2.1 Immunglobulin M 58 3.2.2 Immunglobulin G 60 3.2.3 Immunglobulin G1 62 3.2.4 Immunglobulin G2 65 3.2.5 Immunglobulin G3 66 3.2.6 Immunglobulin G4 68 3.3 Neurofilament 70 4 Diskussion 74 4.1 Klinische Parameter 75 4.2 GA-spezifische Immunglobulinproduktion 77 4.3 Auswirkungen auf den NfL-Spiegel 79 4.4 Limitationen 81 5 Fazit und Ausblick 82 Literaturverzeichnis 84 Verzeichnisse von Abbildungen und Tabellen 96 Abbildungen 96 Tabellen 98 Danksagung Eidesstattliche Versicherung Anhänge Anlagen der Medizinischen Fakultät

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Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterised by inflammatory damage to the central nervous system (CNS). Accumulated CNS injury can be quantified as brain atrophy, definable as a reduction in brain parenchymal fraction (BPF). BPF correlate with disability in MS and is used routinely as an endpoint in clinical trials. In 2009/2010, a new MS clinical care program, that includes follow-up of BPF, was introduced at Umeå University Hospital (NUS). Levels of neurofilament light polypetide (NFL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are markers of axonal and astrocytic injury, respectively, and also potential surrogate biomarkers for BPF decline. The goals of this thesis were to establish age-adjusted values of BPF in healthy individuals and to relate these to the BPF values from individuals with MS as well as to the levels of NFL and GFAP in CSF. Another goal was to investigate if expanded disability status scale (EDSS)-worsening could be predicted in a clinical MS cohort and if BPF measurements could contribute to such predictions. Methods A group of 111 healthy individuals volunteered to participate in the studies. A total of 106 of these underwent MRI with BPF measurements, 53 underwent lumbar puncture (LP) with measurement of NFL and GFAP and 48 underwent both MRI and LP. Three different automatic and one manual method were utilised to determine BPF. A literature search on BPF in healthy individuals was performed for the purpose of a systematic review. For studying disability progression in MS, all individuals with MS followed at NUS and included in the Swedish MS registry were included if they had matched data on BPF, EDSS and lesion load as part of clinical follow-up (n=278). Results BPF as well as NFL and GFAP levels in CSF were all associated with age. NFL was associated with BPF and GFAP, but only the association with GFAP was retained when adjusting for age. Significant differences were found between different methods for BPF determination. In the MS population, BPF was associated with EDSS. Only progressive disease course could predict EDSS worsening. Conclusion The data on BPF and levels of NFL and GFAP in CSF of healthy individuals can aid in the interpretation of these variables in the setting of MS. Knowledge on differences in BPF data from different methods for BPF determination can be useful in comparing data across studies, but also highlights the need for a commonly accepted gold standard. The correlation between GFAP and NFL levels in CSF may indicate an association between glial and axonal turnover that is independent of the aging effect on the brain. However, the low number of volunteers for LP precluded clear conclusions. An association between BPF and EDSS was seen in the MS group. The ability to predict EDSS worsening in the clinical MS cohort was limited.

Neurofilaments are the main cytoskeletal constituents in neuronal cells. They are belived to be important for maintaining the structural integrity and calibre of axons and dendrites thereby influencing the conduction velocity of nerve impulses.The neurofilament chains are divided into three groups according to their molecular size, neurofilament light (NF-L), neurofilament medium (NF-M) and neurofilament heavy (NF-H). The neurofilaments are obligate heteropolymers in vivo in which NF-L forms the backbone to which the heavier chains copolymerize to form the 10 nm neurofilament fibre. Different degenerative processes in the brain raise significant interest owing to the increasing mean age in the western world. Such diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, vascular dementia, frontal lobe dementia, progressive supra-nuclear paralysis, multiple system atrophy, low pressure hydrocephalus, and multiple sclerosis (MS). We have been able to generate six highly specific monoclonal antibodies for NF-L, and four independent epitopes were elucidated using Biacore and V8 protease degradation. Antibody 2:1 and 47:3 were selected components in a two-site ELISA assay for detection of NF-L in body fluids owing to their outstanding abililty to bind the antigen. The assay has a least detectable dose of 60 ng/l and a standard range of 60 to 64 000 ng/l. The assay was validated on its ability to detect changes of NF-L levels in CSF in patients with different neurological diseases. These were cerebral infarction, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, relapsing remitting MS, extrapyramidal symptoms, and late onset Alzheimer’s disease. All the patient groups displayed significantly elevated NF-L levels as compared to the controls. We also tested the assay’s ability to monitor the amount of axonal breakdown in an animal model of MS. The NF-L levels were found to be elevated in rodents with chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, giving a possible tool for monitoring new treatment strategies for axonal protection in MS. When studying a large population based MS material, we found axonal breakdown to be present early in the disease course and the breakdown was observed both in active relapse and clinically stable disease, indicative of ongoing neurodegeneration. NF-L levels were correlated to progression index, that is, high NF-L levels detected early in disease predict a fast progression of the disease. The amount of glial fibrillary acidic protein, a cytoskeletal protein found in astrocytes, was also quantified and was shown to be a good marker for the more progressive MS subtypes, that is, primary progressive and secondary progressive disease, indicating formation of astrocytic scars and activation of astrocytes. The test dealt with in this thesis has the potential to identify the slow chronic degenerative diseases with progressive disappearance of nerve cells and their large myelinated axons. There is a significant need clinically to be able to quantify such types of cell degeneration in relation to the progressive disappearance of nerve functions and to relate these different conditions to treatment regimens, disease progress, and prognosis.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Background: Both the innate and adaptive immune systems contribute to autoimmune injury in multiple sclerosis (MS). We have been particularly interested in elucidating the role of the innate γδ T-cell population in MS pathogenesis. In particular, some γδ T-cells that express Fc receptors (FcR), such as CD16, that bind antibody are more prominent with MS disease progression and have been shown to exert cytolysis via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). We postulated that if there were also relevant and detectable antibodies in MS patients that might engage these FcR-bearing γδ T-cells then this might be a purported mechanism of neuro-axonal injury. A search for antibodies specific to axonal elements in MS revealed the presence of antibodies to neurofascin (Nfasc). Methods: Anti-Nfasc antibody titres, and concentrations of the light and heavy chains of neurofilament (NfL and NfH, respectively), markers of neuro-axonal injury, were measured in the sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of MS patients using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), including those that underwent autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT), both prior to and yearly for 3 years thereafter. HeLa cells were transfected with the axonal variant of Nfasc, Nfasc-186, and were utilized as targets in ADCC assays involving γδ T-cells as the effectors, and anti-Nfasc antibodies that were enriched from MS patient sera. Results: Positive anti-Nfasc antibody titres were detected in of 22% and 25% of MS patient sera and CSF, respectively. The most elevated serum titres were in secondary progressive MS (SPMS), and highest CSF titres in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) (p<0.05 and p<0.0001, respectively, vs. other neurological disease [OND] controls). Patient serum and CSF antibody titres correlated and, in the CSF, the titres correlated positively with the concentration of NfL. Though NfL and NfH concentrations declined markedly following aHSCT in the CSF, anti-Nfasc antibody titres failed to decline. When co-cultured with CD16+ γδ T-cells in the presence of MS patient-derived anti-Nfasc antibodies, the percent specific cytolysis of the Nfasc-transfected HeLa cells was significantly greater than that of the non-transfected control HeLa cells, at 18% and 1%, respectively, indicating cytolytic kill via ADCC. Summary: Anti-Nfasc antibodies were detectable in the sera and CSF of MS patients, and rarely in OND controls, suggesting they are relevant to MS. Higher titres in the serum support peripheral synthesis, while higher CSF titres in the relapsing phase, that correlate with serum titres, imply that antibodies access the CNS during periods of active inflammation that are associated with disruption of the blood-CSF barrier. CSF anti-Nfasc antibody titres correlated strongly with the release of NfL, suggesting that axonal injury could be related to the presence of Nfasc-specific antibodies. Following aHSCT, CSF NfL and NfH release were reduced without concomitant CSF anti-Nfasc antibody reductions, suggesting that the presence alone of anti-Nfasc antibodies is not enough to cause axonal injury. Indeed, when co-cultured with CD16+ γδ T-cells in the presence of MS patient-derived anti-Nfasc antibodies, the percent specific cytolysis of the Nfasc-transfected HeLa cells was significantly greater than that of the non-transfected control HeLa cells, proving that FcR-bearing γδ T-cells can cause axonal damage by lysing axonal membranes via ADCC, when armed with axon-specific antibodies such as anti-Nfasc. This is the first report of γδ T-cell-mediated cytolysis by ADCC using both γδ T-cells and antibodies derived from MS patients.

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