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Dietary and lifestyle factors in multiple sclerosis progression: results from a 5-year longitudinal MRI study

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Abstract

Background

Evidence regarding the role, if any, of dietary and lifestyle factors in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is poorly understood.

Objective

To assess the effect of lifestyle-based risk factors linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) on clinical and MRI-derived MS outcomes.

Methods

The study enrolled 175 MS or clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) patients and 42 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) who were longitudinally followed for 5.5 years. The 20-year CVD risk was calculated by Healthy Heart Score (HHS) prediction model which includes age, smoking, body mass index, dietary intake, exercise, and alcohol consumption. Baseline and follow-up MRI scans were obtained and cross-sectional and longitudinal changes of T2-lesion volume (LV), whole brain volume (WBV), white matter volume (WMV), gray matter volume (GMV), and lateral ventricular volume (LVV) were calculated.

Results

After correcting for disease duration, the baseline HHS values of the MS group were associated with baseline GMV (rs = − 0.20, p = 0.01), and longitudinal LVV change (rs = 0.19, p = 0.01). The association with LVV remained significant after adjusting for baseline LVV volumes (rs = 0.2, p = 0.008) in MS patients. The diet component of the HHS was associated with the 5-year T2-LV accrual (rs = − 0.191, p = 0.04) in MS. In the HC group, the HHS was associated with LVV (rs = 0.58, p < 0.001), GMV (rs = − 0.57, p < 0.001), WBV (rs = − 0.55, p = 0.001), T2-LV (rs = 0.41, p = 0.027), and WMV (rs = − 0.38, p = 0.042). Additionally, the HC HHS was associated with the 5-year change in LVV (rs = 0.54, p = 0.001) and in WBV (rs = − 0.45, p = 0.011).

Conclusion

Lifestyle risk factors contribute to accelerated central brain atrophy in MS patients, whereas unhealthier diet is associated with MS lesion accrual. Despite the lower overall effect when compared to HCs, lifestyle-based modifications may still provide a beneficial effect on reducing brain atrophy in MS patients.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge all study participants and investigators that were involved and contributed to the CEG-MS study over the period of 8 years.

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Correspondence to Robert Zivadinov.

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Conflicts of interest

This study was funded in part by The Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Diseases and internal resources of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center. In addition, we received support from the Jacquemin Family Foundation. Research reported in this publication was also funded in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award Number UL1TR001412. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. Dejan Jakimovski, Sirin Gandhi,Yi Guan, Jesper Hagemeier, Deepa P. Ramasamy, Tom Fuchs, Richard Browne, Niels Bergsland, Michael Dwyer have nothing to disclose. Bianca Weinstock- Guttman received honoraria as a speaker and as a consultant for Biogen Idec, Teva Pharmaceuticals, EMD Serono, Genzyme&Sanofi, Novartis and Acorda. Dr Weinstock-Guttman received research funds from Biogen Idec, Teva Pharmaceuticals,, EMD Serono, Genzyme&Sanofi, Novartis, Acorda. Murali Ramanathan received research funding the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the National Institutes of Health and Otsuka Pharmaceutical and Development. These are unrelated to the research presented in this report. Robert Zivadinov received personal compensation from EMD Serono, Genzyme-Sanofi, Claret Medical, Celgene and Novartis for speaking and consultant fees. He received financial support for research activities from Genenetech, Genzyme-Sanofi, Novartis, and Quintiles/IMS.

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The study was approved by the University at Buffalo Institutional Review Board (IRB) and all participants signed written informed consent.

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Jakimovski, D., Weinstock-Guttman, B., Gandhi, S. et al. Dietary and lifestyle factors in multiple sclerosis progression: results from a 5-year longitudinal MRI study. J Neurol 266, 866–875 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-019-09208-0

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