Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 10, 2025
Author Spotlight: Unveiling the Pathway Linking Obesity to Autoimmune Inflammation in Multiple Sclerosis
Published on: February 23, 2024
Examining changes in neurofilament light chain following a behavioral weight loss intervention for adults with
J S Cozart1, A S Bruce2, R P Shook3
1Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics, University of Missouri-Kansas City, School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Background:
The present study examined the effect of a behavioral weight loss intervention on multiple sclerosis (MS) disease activity, as measured by neurofilament light chain (NfL).
Methods:
NfL samples were collected at each clinical visit. Treatment and control arms were collapsed to perform cross-sectional analyses among the pre-intervention sample (n = 65). Spearman Rho correlations were used to examine associations between adjusted (age/BMI) and unadjusted pre-intervention NfL levels, and patient anthropometric, demographic, clinical, and treatment-specific variables (i.e., diet, physical activity). Mann-Whitney U Test was used to examine differences in NfL change between groups (intervention vs. control) at 6-months. Longitudinal associations between NfL change and percent weight loss, diet, and physical activity were also assessed among the collapsed sample.
Results:
Participant age was the only variable associated with NfL at baseline. Change in age/BMI adjusted NfL did not significantly differ between groups at 6 months (U = 201, p = .25). Despite clinically significant weight loss, there were no statistically significant differences between pre-/post-treatment levels or pre-/post-maintenance levels of NfL. Changes in diet and physical activity were not associated with changes in NfL.
Discussion:
NfL remained stable throughout the intervention despite significant weight loss. In this cohort, weight loss was associated with improved mobility, quality of life, and increased physical activity (Bruce et al., 2023). These improvements may have been due to the weight loss itself and possibly not due to a reduction in MS-related disease activity that is indexed by change in NfL.
