Dimethyl fumarate treatment of primary progressive multiple sclerosis: results of an open-label extension study.

INTRODUCTION: Dimethyl fumarate treatment is approved in Europe for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and in the US for relapsing forms of MS. We recently published the results of the first randomized placebo-controlled trial of 48 weeks of treatment with dimethyl fumarate or placebo in primary progressive MS (PPMS) (clinicaltrial.gov NCT02959658). The placebo-controlled phase of the trial did not meet its primary endpoint (reduction in cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of neurofilament light chain [NFL]). AIM: To investigate the effects of dimethyl fumarate treatment in the open-label extension phase of the trial (week 48-96), where all patients were treated with DMF. METHODS: Reported data are from screening, week 48, and week 96 visits. Patients were clinically evaluated with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), 9-Hole Peg Test (9HPT), Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW) test, Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), California Verbal Learning Test, and Brief Visuospatial Memory-Revised. Serum NFL concentrations were measured by single-molecule array analysis. MRI was performed on a 3 tesla MRI scanner and included: new/enlarging lesions, volume of lesions, cortical grey matter, putamen, thalamus, and normal-appearing white matter, and additional diffusion tensor imaging and magnetization transfer ratio measures. RESULTS: Forty-two patients entered the open-label treatment phase, and 33 patients (61%) had complete data sets at week 96. The remaining 39% did not complete the trial and were not evaluated at week 96. We found no evidence of differences in clinical and MRI measures between patients initially treated with dimethyl fumarate and patients initially treated with placebo from baseline to week 48 and from week 48-96, where all patients were treated with dimethyl fumarate. Serum NFL concentrations remained stable in both groups over 96 weeks. Assessed with either EDSS, T25FW, or 9HPT at week 96, progression was observed for 14 patients (45%). Interestingly, another 15 patients (46%) had improvement in one or more of these domains. Applying a cut-off of 8 points, 2 (6%) patients worsened on SDMT, 25 (78%) did not change, and 5 (16%) improved. CONCLUSIONS: Dimethyl fumarate treatment showed no effects on neither clinical nor MRI outcomes or changes in serum concentrations of NFL. An expected number of patients showed evidence of progression on standard clinical scales; however, this was matched by an equal number of patients improving. The reasons for the physical improvement in an unexpectedly high proportion of patients must be addressed in future studies.

Smoking, cardiovascular risk factors and LRP2 gene variation: Associations with disease severity, cognitive function and brain structure in primary progressive multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Smoking, cardiovascular risk factors, and genetic factors can have adverse effects in MS. OBJECTIVE: To determine if smoking after disease onset, cardiovascular risk factors, and genetic variants influence primary progressive MS (PPMS). METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, smoking habits, Framingham Risk Score (FRS), genetic variants, including the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 2 (LRP2) SNP rs12988804 and MRI were collected in 60 PPMS trial participants. Disability and cognition were assessed with the Age-Related Multiple Sclerosis Severity (ARMSS) score, the Progressive-Onset MS Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score, and the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS. RESULTS: Smoking after PPMS onset was significantly associated with higher ARMSS (95% CI 0.8-2.4, p = 0.00016) statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. Lower magnetization transfer ratio in lesions was also significantly associated with smoking after onset of PPMS after correction (95% CI -0.9--4.4, p = 0.0035). Pack-years in people who smoked after onset was likewise significantly associated with higher ARMSS score (b = 0.06 95% CI 0.02-0.09, p = 0.0021) as well as lower Symbol Digit Modalities Test scores (b = -0.40; 95% CI -0.66--0.13, p = 0.0037), both statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. The LRP2 risk allele was associated with decreased performance on the California Verbal Learning Test 2 after correction (CC vs. CT+TT 95% CI -14.2--3.4, p = 0.0018). CONCLUSION: If validated, these findings suggest that intervention regarding smoking may be beneficial in PPMS. If confirmed, assessment of the LRP2 gene variant may aid in the understanding of underlying pathological mechanisms in PPMS.

Dimethyl Fumarate Treatment in Patients With Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized, Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To study whether dimethyl fumarate is superior to placebo in decreasing CSF concentrations of neurofilament light chain (NFL) in patients with primary progressive MS (PPMS). METHODS: In the double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 study dimethyl FUMArate treatment in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (FUMAPMS), patients with PPMS were randomly assigned to treatment with 240 mg dimethyl fumarate or placebo in a 1:1 ratio for 48 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in concentration of NFL in the CSF. Secondary endpoints included other CSF biomarkers and clinical and MRI measures. Efficacy was evaluated for the full data set by multiple imputations to account for missing data. Safety was assessed for the full data set. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients (mean age 54.9 years [SD 6.1], median Expanded Disability Status Scale 4.0 [nterquartile range 4.0-6.0], disease duration 14.1 [SD 9.4], and 21 [39%] female) were randomized to either placebo (n = 27) or dimethyl fumarate (n = 27) therapy. At screening CSF concentrations, adjusted for age and sex, of NFL, myelin basic protein (MBP), soluble CD27, chitinase 3-like 1, and B-cell maturation antigen were higher than in a group of symptomatic controls. Twenty-six patients (96%) in the dimethyl fumarate group and 24 patients (89%) in the placebo group completed the randomized phase. Mean change in CSF concentrations of NFL did not differ between groups (mean difference 99 ng/L; 95% CI -292 to 491 ng/L). MBP in CSF decreased in the treatment group (-182 ng/L, 95% CI -323 to -41 ng/L compared with placebo). The difference observed in the multiple imputation data set was not significant in a per protocol analysis. This was nominally significant in the multiple imputation data set but not in the per protocol analysis This was not found in the per protocol analysis Other secondary and tertiary outcomes were not affected. Various infections, lymphopenia, flushing, and gastrointestinal side effects were more frequent in the dimethyl fumarate group. Serious adverse events were similar between groups. DISCUSSION: Dimethyl fumarate treatment for 48 weeks had no effect on any of the investigated efficacy measures in patients with PPMS. We did not observe adverse events not anticipated for dimethyl fumarate treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02959658. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class I evidence that for patients with PPMS, dimethyl fumarate treatment has no effect on CSF NFL levels compared with placebo treatment.

Complete cognitive recovery in a severe case of anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis treated with electroconvulsive therapy.

Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor encephalitis usually presents with prominent neuropsychiatric symptoms and many patients experience cognitive sequelae. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been suggested as a part of the treatment, particularly for catatonia, but concerns that ECT may worsen the cognitive function and long-term outcome may limit its use. We present a case of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis with severe neuropsychiatric manifestations including refractory catatonia and behavioural change. A pre-ECT neuropsychological assessment revealed dysfunction in multiple cognitive domains in spite of intensive pharmacological treatment. Twenty days after the ninth and last ECT treatment, the patient underwent the same neuropsychological tests, which showed normalised test results within all cognitive domains and no need of rehabilitation. The case demonstrates that the use of ECT in anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis with severe pretreatment cognitive dysfunction can be associated with a highly favourable cognitive outcome.

Brief international cognitive assessment for multiple sclerosis (BICAMS): A danish validation study of sensitivity in early stages of MS.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is highly prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS). Due to the lack of specialized neuropsychological resources in many MS clinics, a brief cognitive monitoring tool that can be administered by other MS clinic staff is needed. BICAMS (Brief International Cognitive As-sessment for Multiple Sclerosis) has been developed and recommended by MS experts to monitor MS-related cognitive impairment. International validations of the tool are warranted. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of the study was to establish a Danish translation of BICAMS as a feasible cognitive monitoring tool and to provide a Danish contribution to the international validation of BI-CAMS. A secondary aim was to determine if BICAMS correlated with self-reported cognition. The study population comprised people with MS (pwMS) with relatively early MS and newly diagnosed. METHODS: 65 pwMS were compared to healthy controls (HCs) matched on age, sex and education. PwMS and controls completed the BICAMS test battery which includes the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT, oral version), California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R). In addition, self-reported cognition, fatigue, depression and quality of life were assessed. To evaluate the reliability of the BICAMS test, all participants were retested 2-3 weeks later with alternate versions of the tests. RESULTS: Mean age of the MS group was 37.2 years; 63% were female and all pwMS had a relapsing-remitting disease course. MS disease duration was relatively short; mean disease duration was 3.9 years and 32 of 65 pwMS (49%) were newly diagnosed with MS, i.e. diagnosed within the last 2 years. Mean EDSS was 1.8 with a span from 0-4. Comparison of the groups showed that the MS group performed significantly below the control group on the 3 BICAMS measures: SDMT (p<0.005), CVLT-II (p<0.05) and BVMT-R (p<0.05). When the results were controlled for influence from depression and fatigue by regression analysis, group differences were limited to the SDMT (p<0.05) and the BVMT-R (p<0.05) and these group differences were only found at the retest session. The BICAMS measures were reliable over time (r = 0.90 for SDMT, r = 0.82 for CVLT-II and r = 0.68 for BVMT-R). 32.3% of the MS population was cognitively impaired on at least one of the 3 BICAMS tests (defined as -1.5 SD compared to HCs). In the MS group 20% were impaired on the SDMT; 16.9% were impaired on the BVMT-R and 10.7% were impaired on the CVLT-II. There was no relationship between BICAMS test-scores and subjectively reported cognition, fatigue or depression. CONCLUSION: The Danish translation of BICAMS was a reliable and feasible cognitive assessment tool. This finding was confirmed even in an MS population characterized by relatively early MS and high cognitive reserve. Frequency of cognitive dysfunction detected by BICAMS in this study was relatively low due to population characteristics.

Correction: Langeskov-Christensen, M., et al. Aerobic Capacity Is Not Associated with Most Cognitive Domains in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis-A Cross-Sectional Investigation. Journal of Clinical Medicine 2018, 7, 272.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...].

Structural and cognitive correlates of fatigue in progressive multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating symptom and experienced by most patients. In recent studies investigating this phenomenon, the majority of patients had a relapsing-remitting disease course. METHODS: Patients with progressive MS participating in one of three treatment trials during a period from 2010 to 2014 were included. Fatigue was assessed with the Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Functions (FSMC) and patients were further examined with a cognitive test battery, including Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), and 3 T MRI with subsequent quantitative analyses of 13 cortical regions of interest, deep grey matter and lesion volume. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were enrolled. The thickness of the pre-central gyrus correlated significantly with motor fatigue. We found only a non-significant trend towards a correlation between cognitive fatigue and the thickness of the pre-central gyrus, the parietal inferior supra-marginal gyrus and the opercular part of the inferior frontal gyrus. 36% of participants had impaired processing speed and 9% had normal function on all tests. The scores on the FSMC-cognitive scale were related to performance on SDMT. CONCLUSION: In this exploratory study of patients with progressive MS, fatigue was related to processing speed. Motor fatigue was also related to the cortical thickness of the primary motor cortex and there was a trend towards a relationship between cognitive fatigue and the thickness of cortical areas involved in attentional processes. Additional studies are needed to further elucidate the relationship between regional cortical atrophy, cognitive functioning and the perception of fatigue. ABBREVIATIONS: FSMC: Motor and Cognitive Functions; MS: Multiple Sclerosis; SDMT: Symbol Digit Modalities Test; MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; RRMS: Relapsing-Remitting Disease Course; EDSS: Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale; FLAIR: Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery; NAWM: Normal-Appearing White Matter; CGM: Cortical Grey Matter; CTh: Cortical Thickness; ROIs: Regions of Interest; Raven: Raven Progressive Matrices; TM A: Trail Making A; TM B: Trail Making B; Rey: Rey Complex Figure; Similarities: WAIS III Similarities; Stroop: Stroop Colour Naming Test; BDI: Becks Depression Inventory II.

Aerobic Capacity Is Not Associated with Most Cognitive Domains in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis-A Cross-Sectional Investigation.

(1) Background: Cognitive impairment is highly prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS). Staying physically fit may be associated with preservation of cognitive performance in persons with MS (pwMS); (2) Objective: To investigate the association between aerobic capacity and the cognitive domains of information processing, learning and memory, and verbal fluency as well as single and composite z-scores of the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological tests (BRBNT) in pwMS; (3) Methods: All subjects first performed the BRBNT and then a maximal oxygen consumption (VO2-max) test on a bicycle ergometer as a measure of aerobic capacity. Simple and multiple (adjusting for age, sex, and education level) regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between aerobic capacity and cognitive performance in different domains. Published international norms were used to compute z-scores for each individual and composite BRBNT score. Furthermore, cognitive impairment was defined as one or more z-scores ≤-1.5 standard deviation (SD) of healthy controls; (4) Results: Eighty-four subjects were included (44.9 ± 9 years, 16.3 ± 2 education years, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS): 2.6 ± 1.4, MS-type (relapsing-remitting, primary progressive, or secondary progressive): 73/6/5, disease duration: 9.9 ± 7 years, VO2-max: 28.4 ± 7.0 mL O2/min/kg). No significant associations between aerobic capacity and cognitive performance in the individual BRBNT tests were found, except that a weak relationship was found between aerobic capacity and the composite processing speed z-score (R² = 0.06, p = 0.02). The average global BRBNT z-score (-0.2 ± 0.66) was not associated with aerobic capacity. Comparison of the cognitively impaired group (34.5%) with the nonimpaired group (65.5%) showed lower aerobic capacity in the impaired group (25.9 ± 1 vs. 29.7 ± 1 mLO2/min/kg, p = 0.02); (5) Conclusions: Limited support was found for an association between performance in most cognitive domains and aerobic capacity in the present MS group with a third of patients showing signs of cognitive impairments.