Oligoclonal bands and periventricular lesions in multiple sclerosis will not increase blood-brain barrier permeability.

OBJECTIVE

To elucidate the etiology and clinical significance of periventricular lesions (PVLs) and oligoclonal bands (OB) in multiple sclerosis (MS).

METHODS

We enrolled a total of 97 MS patients (67 OB-positive and 30 OB-negative) who were negative both for anti-aquaporin-4 (AQP4) autoantibody and anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody. In these patients, comprehensive data including clinical, laboratory, and MRI were collected to investigate the significance of OB and PVLs.

RESULTS

Within the MS patients, OB-positivity and the number of PVLs were associated each other. Both of OB-positivity and PVLs did not affect clinical severity or relapse rate, though the patients with ≥3 PVLs showed faster cerebral atrophy than those with <3 PVLs. The patients with OB or ≥3 PVLs showed lower values of quotient of albumin (QAlb), a biomarker of blood-brain barrier (BBB)-permeability and possibly reflects the ongoing disease activity, and lower protein levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The causal relationship between the decreased QAlb and OB or ≥3 PVLs was not determined.

CONCLUSIONS

OB and PVLs were associated each other, but they did not affect the clinical course or increased the BBB-permeability within MS patients.