Περίληψη:
Axonal degeneration and brain tissue loss occur during disease
progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) and are expected to influence
neurotransmitter activities, with consequences on neurologic and
psychiatric symptomatology. We searched for relationships of disease
duration, disability, and severity of MS patients to CSF levels of the
major metabolites of noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin, MHPG,
methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), homovanillic acid, and
5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), respectively, in 39 patients with
relapsing-remitting (RR) MS in remission, and 26 patients with
progressive (PR) MS. Disability and Disease Severity were assessed by
the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and the Multiple Sclerosis
Severity Score (MSSS). Compared with the levels of 50 control subjects,
MHPG levels were not different in either MS group, correlated negatively
to duration of illness and number of relapses in the RRMS group, but not
to EDSS score or to MSSS. Homovanillic acid levels were significantly
lower only in the PRMS group, with a negative correlation to duration of
illness, and a strong negative correlation to EDSS score, but not to
MSSS. 5-HIAA was significantly lower in both RRMS and PRMS groups. In
the RRMS group, 5-HIAA levels were negatively related to EDSS and to
MSSS. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant association of
MHPG to duration of illness, and a strong negative association of 5-HIAA
to MSSS rather than to EDSS. The strong negative correlation of MSSS to
CSF 5-HIAA levels in RRMS group of patients indicates that deficits in
central serotonergic activity are related to the rate of disability
accumulation in RRMS, and could be linked to the reported reduction of
disease activity by serotonergic drugs.
Συγγραφείς:
Markianos, Manolis
Koutsis, Georgios
Evangelopoulos,
Maria-Eleftheria
Mandellos, Dimitrios
Karahalios, Georgios and
Sfagos, Constantin
