TY - JOUR
T1 - Short interval intracortical facilitation correlates with the degree of disability in multiple sclerosis
AU - Mori, Francesco
AU - Kusayanagi, Hajime
AU - Monteleone, Fabrizia
AU - Moscatelli, Alessandro
AU - Nicoletti, Carolina G.
AU - Bernardi, Giorgio
AU - Centonze, Diego
PY - 2013/1
Y1 - 2013/1
N2 - Background: The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) is the most widely used measure of disability in MS, however because of its limitations surrogate markers of clinical disability progression are of high interest. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) measures of demyelination and cortical excitability correlate with disability levels in MS. Objective: Aim of this study was testing whether paired pulse (pp) TMS represents a reliable surrogate marker to measure clinical disability in MS. Methods: ppTMS measures of intracortical synaptic transmission such as short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), long interval intracortical inhibition (LICI), short interval intracortical facilitation (SICF) and intracortical facilitation (ICF) were collected from 74 patients affected by MS. Correlation of EDSS scores with ppTMS measures was analyzed. Results: EDSS scores correlated with patient's age, disease duration, Motor Evoked Potentials latency and thresholds and SICF measures but not with age of onset, SICI, ICF and LICI. Conclusions: These findings support a possible use of SICF and MEP latency as surrogate markers of disability in MS. Further research is warranted to determine the role of SICF in the follow up of disease progression and to validate its use as an endpoint in multiple sclerosis clinical trials.
AB - Background: The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) is the most widely used measure of disability in MS, however because of its limitations surrogate markers of clinical disability progression are of high interest. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) measures of demyelination and cortical excitability correlate with disability levels in MS. Objective: Aim of this study was testing whether paired pulse (pp) TMS represents a reliable surrogate marker to measure clinical disability in MS. Methods: ppTMS measures of intracortical synaptic transmission such as short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), long interval intracortical inhibition (LICI), short interval intracortical facilitation (SICF) and intracortical facilitation (ICF) were collected from 74 patients affected by MS. Correlation of EDSS scores with ppTMS measures was analyzed. Results: EDSS scores correlated with patient's age, disease duration, Motor Evoked Potentials latency and thresholds and SICF measures but not with age of onset, SICI, ICF and LICI. Conclusions: These findings support a possible use of SICF and MEP latency as surrogate markers of disability in MS. Further research is warranted to determine the role of SICF in the follow up of disease progression and to validate its use as an endpoint in multiple sclerosis clinical trials.
KW - EDSS
KW - Functional connectivity
KW - Neurodegeneration
KW - Paired pulse
KW - SICF
KW - TMS
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84873414541&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84873414541&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.brs.2012.02.001
DO - 10.1016/j.brs.2012.02.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 22425067
AN - SCOPUS:84873414541
VL - 6
SP - 67
EP - 71
JO - Brain Stimulation
JF - Brain Stimulation
SN - 1935-861X
IS - 1
ER -