Reduced expression of L-selectin in T-cells correlates with relative lymphocyte increase in patients with RRMS treated with natalizumab - functional implication towards PML risk

Boziki, Marina Kleopatra; Karapanayotides, Theodoros; Papadopoulos, Georgios; Lagoudaki, Roza; Melo, Pamela; Bakirtzis, Christos; Nikolaidis, Ioannis; Gounari, Evdoxia; Tsavdaridou, Vasiliki; Skoura, Lemonia; Afrantou, Theodora; Tatsi, Theano; Grigoriadou, Eleni; Polyzoidou, Eleni; Mandoras, Nikolaos; Giantzi, Virginia; Fountzila, Anna Kalogera -; Ioannidis, Panagiotis; Parissis, Dimitrios; Pelidou, Sygkliti-Henrietta; Zoidou, Sofia; Grigoriadis, Nikolaos

doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.11841873.v1

yner_a_1722913_sm0020.doc (58 kB)

Reduced expression of L-selectin in T-cells correlates with relative lymphocyte increase in patients with RRMS treated with natalizumab - functional implication towards PML risk

journal contribution

posted on 2020-02-12, 12:42 authored by Marina Kleopatra Boziki, Theodoros Karapanayotides, Georgios Papadopoulos, Roza Lagoudaki, Pamela Melo, Christos Bakirtzis, Ioannis Nikolaidis, Evdoxia Gounari, Vasiliki Tsavdaridou, Lemonia Skoura, Theodora Afrantou, Theano Tatsi, Eleni Grigoriadou, Eleni Polyzoidou, Nikolaos Mandoras, Virginia Giantzi, Anna Kalogera - Fountzila, Panagiotis Ioannidis, Dimitrios Parissis, Sygkliti-Henrietta Pelidou, Sofia Zoidou, Nikolaos Grigoriadis

Objectives: Natalizumab (NTZ), a treatment indicated for patients with highly active Relapsing – Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS), is known to induce increased relative frequency of lymphocytes. Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalitis (PML) is a rare but serious adverse event related to NTZ. Moreover, reduced L-selectin (CD62L) expression in T-cells in cryopreserved samples of patients with RRMS under NTZ has been proposed as a biomarker of pre-PML state. We explore the association between L-selectin expression in T-cells and hematological parameters in freshly processed samples of patients with RRMS under NTZ.

Methods: We studied L-selectin expression in patients with: RRMS under NTZ (n=34), fingolimod (FTY, n=14), interferon-beta (IFNβ, n=22), glatiramer acetate (GA, N=17); in 9 patients with secondary progressive (SP) MS and in 6 healthy controls. Twenty-two patients under NTZ and 6 patients under FTY were followed for 18 months. One NTZ-treated patient developed PML during the study.

Results: Patients under NTZ exhibited increased relative frequency of lymphocytes (40.02±1.45) compared to patients under first–line treatment (30.57±1.68, p<0.001) and to patients with SPMS (29±1.56, p=0.02), and a lower mean L-selectin expression in (69.39±1.73) compared to patients under first–line treatment (79.1±1.17, p=0.003). A negative correlation between the relative frequency of CD4+CD62L+ T-cells and the absolute lymphocyte counts (Pearson’s r=0.367, p=0.033) was observed.

Discussion: We hereby provide mechanistic insight in a possible pathway implicated in NTZ-related PML risk. These results further underline the need for thorough validation of L-selectin expression in T-cells as a potential pre-PML biomarker.