In vivo cortical glutathione response to oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A single-arm open-label phase IV trial using 7-Tesla 1H MRS

Background: This is an open-label, single-arm, single-center pilot study using 7-Tesla in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) to measure brain cortical glutathione concentration at baseline before and during the use of oral fumarates as a disease-modifying therapy for multiple scler...

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Main Authors: Christoph Juchem, Kelley M. Swanberg, Hetty Prinsen, Daniel Pelletier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-01-01
Series:NeuroImage: Clinical
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158223001869
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author Christoph Juchem
Kelley M. Swanberg
Hetty Prinsen
Daniel Pelletier
author_facet Christoph Juchem
Kelley M. Swanberg
Hetty Prinsen
Daniel Pelletier
author_sort Christoph Juchem
collection DOAJ
description Background: This is an open-label, single-arm, single-center pilot study using 7-Tesla in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) to measure brain cortical glutathione concentration at baseline before and during the use of oral fumarates as a disease-modifying therapy for multiple sclerosis. The primary endpoint of this research was the change in prefrontal cortex glutathione concentration relative to a therapy-naïve baseline after one year of oral fumarate therapy. Methods: Brain glutathione concentrations were examined by 1H MRS in single prefrontal and occipital cortex cubic voxels (2.5 × 2.5 × 2.5 cm3) before and during initiation of oral fumarate therapy (120 mg b.i.d. for 7 days and 240 mg b.i.d. thereafter). Additional measurements of related metabolites glutamate, glutamine, myoinositol, total N-acetyl aspartate, and total choline were also acquired in voxels centered on the same regions. Seven relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients (4 f / 3 m, age range 28–50 years, mean age 40 years) naïve to fumarate therapy were scanned at pre-therapy baseline and after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months of therapy. A group of 8 healthy volunteers (4 f / 4 m, age range 33–48 years, mean age 41 years) was also scanned at baseline and Month 6 to characterize 1H-MRS measurement reproducibility over a comparable time frame. Results: In the multiple sclerosis cohort, general linear models demonstrated a significant positive linear relationship between prefrontal glutathione and time either linearly across all time points (+0.05 ± 0.02 mM/month, t(27) = 2.6, p = 0.02) or specifically for factor variable Month 12 (+0.6 ± 0.3 mM/12 months, t(24) = 2.2, p = 0.04) relative to baseline. No such effects of time on glutathione concentration were demonstrated in the occipital cortex or in the healthy volunteer group. Changes in occipital total choline were further observed in the multiple sclerosis cohort as well as prefrontal total choline and occipital glutamine and myoinositol in the control cohort throughout the study duration. Conclusions: While the open-label single-arm pilot study design and abbreviated control series cannot support firm conclusions about the influence of oral fumarate therapy independent of test–retest factors or normal biological variation in a state of either health or disease, these results do justify further investigation at a larger scale into the potential relationship between prefrontal cortex glutathione increases and oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
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spelling doaj.art-f9b11ca413724f4f8ecd39dd5b7853df2023-08-31T05:02:41ZengElsevierNeuroImage: Clinical2213-15822023-01-0139103495In vivo cortical glutathione response to oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A single-arm open-label phase IV trial using 7-Tesla 1H MRSChristoph Juchem0Kelley M. Swanberg1Hetty Prinsen2Daniel Pelletier3Department of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University Fu Foundation, School of Engineering and Applied Science, New York, NY, United States; Department of Radiology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, United States; Corresponding author at: Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, Columbia University, 1210 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10027, United States.Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University Fu Foundation, School of Engineering and Applied Science, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United StatesDepartment of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Department of Neurology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesBackground: This is an open-label, single-arm, single-center pilot study using 7-Tesla in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) to measure brain cortical glutathione concentration at baseline before and during the use of oral fumarates as a disease-modifying therapy for multiple sclerosis. The primary endpoint of this research was the change in prefrontal cortex glutathione concentration relative to a therapy-naïve baseline after one year of oral fumarate therapy. Methods: Brain glutathione concentrations were examined by 1H MRS in single prefrontal and occipital cortex cubic voxels (2.5 × 2.5 × 2.5 cm3) before and during initiation of oral fumarate therapy (120 mg b.i.d. for 7 days and 240 mg b.i.d. thereafter). Additional measurements of related metabolites glutamate, glutamine, myoinositol, total N-acetyl aspartate, and total choline were also acquired in voxels centered on the same regions. Seven relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients (4 f / 3 m, age range 28–50 years, mean age 40 years) naïve to fumarate therapy were scanned at pre-therapy baseline and after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months of therapy. A group of 8 healthy volunteers (4 f / 4 m, age range 33–48 years, mean age 41 years) was also scanned at baseline and Month 6 to characterize 1H-MRS measurement reproducibility over a comparable time frame. Results: In the multiple sclerosis cohort, general linear models demonstrated a significant positive linear relationship between prefrontal glutathione and time either linearly across all time points (+0.05 ± 0.02 mM/month, t(27) = 2.6, p = 0.02) or specifically for factor variable Month 12 (+0.6 ± 0.3 mM/12 months, t(24) = 2.2, p = 0.04) relative to baseline. No such effects of time on glutathione concentration were demonstrated in the occipital cortex or in the healthy volunteer group. Changes in occipital total choline were further observed in the multiple sclerosis cohort as well as prefrontal total choline and occipital glutamine and myoinositol in the control cohort throughout the study duration. Conclusions: While the open-label single-arm pilot study design and abbreviated control series cannot support firm conclusions about the influence of oral fumarate therapy independent of test–retest factors or normal biological variation in a state of either health or disease, these results do justify further investigation at a larger scale into the potential relationship between prefrontal cortex glutathione increases and oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158223001869Multiple sclerosisFumarateGlutathionePrefrontal cortexMagnetic resonance spectroscopy7 Tesla
spellingShingle Christoph Juchem
Kelley M. Swanberg
Hetty Prinsen
Daniel Pelletier
In vivo cortical glutathione response to oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A single-arm open-label phase IV trial using 7-Tesla 1H MRS
NeuroImage: Clinical
Multiple sclerosis
Fumarate
Glutathione
Prefrontal cortex
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy
7 Tesla
title In vivo cortical glutathione response to oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A single-arm open-label phase IV trial using 7-Tesla 1H MRS
title_full In vivo cortical glutathione response to oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A single-arm open-label phase IV trial using 7-Tesla 1H MRS
title_fullStr In vivo cortical glutathione response to oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A single-arm open-label phase IV trial using 7-Tesla 1H MRS
title_full_unstemmed In vivo cortical glutathione response to oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A single-arm open-label phase IV trial using 7-Tesla 1H MRS
title_short In vivo cortical glutathione response to oral fumarate therapy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A single-arm open-label phase IV trial using 7-Tesla 1H MRS
title_sort in vivo cortical glutathione response to oral fumarate therapy in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis a single arm open label phase iv trial using 7 tesla 1h mrs
topic Multiple sclerosis
Fumarate
Glutathione
Prefrontal cortex
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy
7 Tesla
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158223001869
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