The effect of disease modifying therapies on CD62L expression in multiple sclerosis

The increasing armamentarium of disease-modifying therapies in multiple sclerosis is accompanied by potentially severe adverse effects. The cell-adhesion molecule CD62L, which facilitates leukocyte extravasation, has been proposed as a predictive marker for treatment tolerability. However, pre-analytical procedures might impact test results, thereby limiting its clinical usability. Whether the immediate analysis of CD62L expression of peripheral blood mononuclear cells can aid treatment decision making is yet unclear.

To investigate the effect of various disease-modifying therapies in multiple sclerosis on CD62L expression of CD3⁺CD4⁺ peripheral blood mononuclear cells in freshly collected blood samples.

We collected peripheral blood samples from patients with clinically isolated syndrome and multiple sclerosis (baseline/follow up n = 234/n = 98) and healthy controls (n = 51). CD62L⁺CD3⁺CD4⁺ expression was analysed within 1 hour by fluorescence-activated cell sorting.

CD62L⁺CD3⁺CD4⁺ expression was significantly decreased in patients treated with natalizumab (n = 26) and fingolimod (n = 20) and increased with dimethyl-fumarate (n = 15) compared to patients receiving interferon/glatiramer acetate (n = 90/30) or no disease-modifying therapies (n = 53) and controls (n = 51) (p<0.001). CD62L expression showed temporal stability during unchanged disease-modifying therapy usage, but increased after natalizumab withdrawal and decreased upon fingolimod introduction.

CD62L⁺CD3⁺CD4⁺ expression is altered in patients treated with different disease-modifying therapies when measured in freshly collected samples. The clinical meaning of CD62L changes under disease-modifying therapies warrants further investigation.