Absence of cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal bands is associated with delayed disability progression in relapsing-remitting MS patients treated with interferon-β

The prognostic significance of cerebrospinal fluid in multiple sclerosis

“…Other studies showed similar results to ours with no differences between the two groups in terms of disability, duration of the disease and relapse rate [8,22,25,26]. In addition, they found that the delay in disability progression was significantly dependent only on the number of baseline MRI T2 white matter lesions that were found to be significantly lower in OCB− vs. OCB+ of RRMS patients [9]. Zeman et al, found that OCB− patients had a "lower plaque burden" on MRI and a lower median EDSS compared with OCB+ patients; however there were only a dozen patients in each group [8].…”

“…In another study, which found no difference in relapse rates or disability, the absence of OCB was found to be more associated with slightly less disability compared to OCB+. The inverse correlation between OCB positivity and disability progression appears to be independent of disease duration [9]. Other studies showed similar results to ours with no differences between the two groups in terms of disability, duration of the disease and relapse rate [8,22,25,26].…”

“…Our study showed that OCB− patients had, at disease onset, a significantly higher frequency of non-specific symptoms deemed a "supratentorial involvement" whereas one other study reported a higher frequency of visual disturbances and less sensory involvement in OCB− groups [9]. This more diffuse presentation may be in keeping with the tendency in our OCB− patients to follow a more progressive course.…”

“…There may be a reason for the difference results reported among the studies. The Italian study reported the association of the absence of OCB in association with delayed disability progression in RRMS treated with interferon-beta, and we do not know whether the presence of OCB plays a role in the response to treatment [9]. Other factors may also play a role such as differences among the populations in terms of HLA genotyping which distinguishes, in particular, the Japanese study [25].…”

“…It has been suggested that patients with fewer OCB are attributed to lower numbers of active plaques and plasma cells in white matter and the meninges [4]. Others have shown the association between a favorable clinical response to interferon-β treatment in relapsing-remitting MS and the absence of OCB which also was associated with lower numbers of baseline T2-weighted MRI lesions [9]. We compared 451 patients whose CSF were examined and who met the revised McDonald criteria [2] in terms of their baseline characteristics and prognosis based on the presence or absence of OCB in their first diagnostic CSF.…”