The association between obesity and oligoclonal band formation in multiple sclerosis patients

Since some neurological disorders present with increased body-mass index (BMI) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) oligoclonal bands (OCB), obesity-induced inflammation has been previously speculated in formation of OCB. We investigated the association between BMI, OCB formation and clinical features of MS in 120 patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a disease with high OCB positivity incidence. Thirty RRMS patients had BMI≥30 and 100 patients displayed CSF OCB. OCB positive and negative patients had comparable BMI and weight values. Disease duration, annual attack number and EDSS were not correlated with BMI and body weight. Patients with normal and high BMI did not significantly differ by means of OCB positivity, gender, annual attack number, disease duration and EDSS scores. Our results argue against a possible role of obesity in OCB formation. Moreover, obesity does not appear to influence disability and clinical progression of MS patients.