Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Levels in Leprosy Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Infectious Diseases
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Leprosy causes unpredictable nerve damage (LPN), leading to disability and stigma.
• Current diagnostic methods lack reliable biomarkers to quantify nerve damage or predict neuropathy.
• No effective biomarkers exist to monitor nerve damage progression in leprosy patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) as a potential biomarker for nerve damage in leprosy.
• To compare NfL levels in leprosy patients with and without neuropathy against healthy controls.
• To explore correlations between NfL levels and disease severity.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional observational study including 30 LPN patients, 20 leprosy patients without neuropathy (L), and 20 healthy controls (HC).
• Serum NfL levels were measured using Single Molecular Assay (SiMoA) HD-X.
• NfL concentrations were compared across groups and correlated with clinical parameters.

Main Results:

• Leprosy patients exhibited significantly higher serum NfL levels compared to healthy controls (p=0.008).
• Serum NfL levels were comparable between leprosy patients with (LPN) and without (L) neuropathy.
• No significant correlation was found between NfL levels and neuropathy severity, but a trend with bacterial load was observed.

Conclusions:

• Elevated serum NfL levels in leprosy patients suggest significant axonal damage.
• NfL shows promise as a minimally invasive biomarker for nerve damage in leprosy.
• Longitudinal studies are necessary to confirm NfL's predictive and therapeutic utility in LPN.