Evaluation of neurofilament light chain levels in multiple sclerosis during acute attack periods

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate how the serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) was influenced in the multiple sclerosis (MS) patients before and after treatment of an acute attacks, and to determine the relationship of it with clinical findings. Materials and Methods: Thirty eight patients with a definite diagnosis of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and who had a clinical acute attack between December 2019 and November 2020 were included in the study. The sNfL levels were studied before and after the treatment of an acute attacks. The relationship of sNfL levels with the patients’ clinical characteristics and treatment of acute attack was analyzed. Results: The sNfL levels of a total of 38 RRMS patients were evaluated. The mean age of the patients were 35.8 ± 9.68 years (19-55 years). The sNfL level before and after treatment of acute attack were 3.55 pg/mL (3.09-4.54 pg/mL) and 3.36 pg/mL (3.01-3.86 pg/mL), respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between the sNfL levels before and after treatment. Likewise, no relationship between the before and after treatment sNfL levels with clinical findings such as gender, age, duration of disease, and biochemical findings were detected. Conclusion: In our study, we found that the sNfL level, which is a biomarker of the prognosis and neuronal degeneration in the long-term, did not influenced by the high dose corticosteroid treatment.