Cerebrospinal Fluid Chloride Is Associated with Disease Activity of Relapsing–Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Blood-brain barrier dysfunction in active multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions leads to pathological changes in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This study aimed to investigate the possible association between routine CSF findings, especially CSF chloride, at the time of the first lumbar puncture and the relapse risk and disability progression of relapsing–remitting MS (RRMS). Methods: This retrospective study included 77 patients with RRMS at the MS Center of our institution from January 2012 to December 2020. The Anderson and Gill (AG) model and Spearman correlation analysis were used to explore predictors of relapse and disability during follow-up. Results: In the multivariate AG model, patients with elevated CSF chloride level (hazard ratio [HR], 1.1; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–1.22; p = 0.001) had a high risk of MS relapse. Using median values of CSF chloride (123.2 mmol/L) as a cut-off, patients with CSF chloride level ≥ 123.2 mmol/L had a 120% increased relapse risk compared with those with CSF chloride level < 123.2 mmol/L (HR = 2.20; 95% CI: 1.19–4.05; p = 0.012). Conclusions: Elevated CSF chloride levels might be a biologically unfavorable predictive factor for disease relapse in RRMS.