Depressive symptoms and CSF markers of B-cell activation in multiple sclerosis
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Published on: October 20, 2016
Elena Di Sabatino1, Silvia Sperandei1, Gianmarco Cinesi2
1Section of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Background:
Psychiatric symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) may be considered as a biologically driven manifestation of the disease. B-cell activation is reliably reflected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by means of oligoclonal bands (OCBs) and the kappa free light chain (κ-FLC) index.
Objective:
We retrospectively explored the relationship of CSF OCBs and κ-FLC index with psychiatric symptoms in a consecutive series of newly diagnosed pwMS.
Results:
Both OCB positivity and a κ-FLC index ≥3.3 were significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms scores. Multivariate analyses confirmed the association for OCB positivity and a borderline association for a κ-FLC index ≥3.3.
Conclusions:
Our findings support the need to systematically assess psychiatric symptoms in MS as a biologically based component of the disease.
