Serum Neurofilament Light Chain as a Biomarker for CIDP Diagnosis, Severity, and Treatment Outcome
Rafael Klimas, Felix Kohle, Lea Horstkemper, Pascal Benkert, Adriana Rehm, Aylin Seibert, Moritz Riesner, Melissa Sgodzai, Thomas Grüter, Niklas Rilke, Barbara Gisevius, Léon Beyer, Klaus Gerwert, Jens Kühle, Michael Schroeter, Helmar C. Lehmann, Ralf Gold, Anna Lena Fisse, Jeremias Motte, Kalliopi Pitarokoili
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to characterize serum neurofilament light chain (sNFL) levels in a large cohort of patients with autoimmune neuropathies to provide every-day clinical practice recommendations. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we recruited 191 patients with immune-mediated neuropathies from 2 referral centers. sNFL was measured using the Simoa NF-light kit (Quanterix), and age-corrected and BMI-corrected z-scores (zNFL) were calculated. Clinical data were correlated with zNFL and adjusted for different disease subsets. A receiver operator characteristic analysis was performed. Treatments and longitudinal disease course of patients with typical chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in early disease stage were analyzed. RESULTS: < 0.0001) but to second-line treatments. DISCUSSION: We established sNFL as a promising biomarker for assessing disease activity in patients with typical CIDP. Elevated zNFL in early-stage typical CIDP indicate severe inflammatory-mediated axonal damage that requires aggressive immunotherapy.