Serum retinol levels are associated with brain volume loss in patients with multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND: Although predicting future brain volume loss (BVL) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) is important, studies have shown only a few biomarkers that can predict BVL. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to elucidate the association between longitudinal BVL and serum biomarker candidates. METHODS: This single-center, retrospective, observational study intended to cover MS patients during January 2008 to March 2016. Patients who underwent brain MRI two times at intervals of >24 months and had a blood test to measure biomarker candidates at the time or within three months of the MRI scan were included. Evaluation of brain volume was performed by using SIENAX and SIENA in the FMRIB software library. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients with MS were included in this study. We found that serum retinol binding protein (RBP) levels were significantly correlated with percentage brain volume change (PBVC) (p = 0.0079). Furthermore, best subset selection of multiple linear regression models identified baseline normalized brain volume and serum RBP as the best predictors of PBVC. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that lower serum retinol levels are associated with greater longitudinal BVL and that serum RBP and can be a predictor of BVL.