Oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid and increased brain atrophy in early stages of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Objective: To determine if the presence of oligoclonal bands (OB) at early stages of multiple sclerosis was associated with higher brain atrophy, when compared with patients without OB. Methods: Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with less than two years of disease onset and OB detection in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were included. SIENAX was used for total brain volume (TBV), gray matter volume (GMV), and white matter volume (WMV). Results: Forty patients were included, 29 had positive IgG-OB. No differences were found between positive and negative patients in gender, expanded disability status scale (EDSS), treatment received, and T2/T1 lesion load. TBV in positive IgG-OB patients was 1.5 mm(3) x 10(6) compared with 1.64 mm(3) x 10(6) in the negative ones (p=0.02). GMV was 0.51 mm(3) x 10(6) in positive IgG-OB compared with 0.62 mm(3) x 10(6) in negative ones (p=0.002). No differences in WMV (p=0.09) were seen. Conclusions: IgG-OB in the CSF was related to neurodegeneration magnetic resonance (MR) markers in early RRMS.