Retinal measures correlate with cognitive and physical disability in early multiple sclerosis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Ophthalmology
• Immunology

Background:

• Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system.
• Cognitive and physical disabilities are significant challenges for early Relapsing-Remitting MS (RRMS) patients.
• The role of retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) in non-optic neuritis (ON) eyes of early MS patients requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the relationship between retinal layer thickness and cognitive/physical disability in early RRMS patients without a history of ON.
• To assess the potential of retinal thickness measures as biomarkers for axonal loss in early MS.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study including 47 early RRMS patients (on interferon beta-1a or fingolimod) and 18 healthy controls.
• Clinical evaluation, cognitive testing (9HPT, SDMT), and retinal OCT scans were performed.
• Multivariate analyses controlled for age, disease duration, treatment, and education.

Main Results:

• Peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness negatively correlated with 9-Hole Peg Test (9HPT) scores (standardized Beta -0.4, p < 0.0001).
• pRNFL thickness positively correlated with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) scores (standardized Beta 0.72, p = 0.007).
• Retinal thickness measures correlated with both physical and cognitive disability in early RRMS patients without optic neuropathy.

Conclusions:

• Retinal layer thickness, assessed by OCT, is associated with physical and cognitive disability in early RRMS patients, even without optic neuritis.
• These retinal measures may serve as valuable biomarkers for detecting axonal loss in early MS.
• Further research is warranted to establish OCT's role in monitoring disease progression and therapeutic response in MS.