BLOOD BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS IN PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS WHO HAD SARS-COV-2 INFECTION

Abstract

B a c k g r o u n d. Currently, multiple sclerosis (MS) is an important medical and social problem. There are already more than 2.8 million people with MS worldwide, and due to the lack of effective methods of treatment and prevention, the number of patients is increasing constantly. Therefore, the search for new ways and approaches aimed towards stabilizing the patient's condition is a priority task of modern neurobiology. It is also important to identify triggers that can lead to accelerating the rate of disease progression. Since MS is an immune-mediated disorder, we hypothesized that concomitant diseases of infectious etiology, via the activation of an inflammatory reactions cascade, can lead to a worsening of the MS patient's condition. However, the final answer to the question of whether acute viral infections affect the condition of patients with MS has not been obtained yet. In the context of the epidemiological situation that has developed in recent years, due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, it is interesting to study the possible negative consequences of COVID-19 in people suffering from MS. The aim of the study was to analyze the general biochemical status of patients with MS who had or did not have a confirmed history of COVID-19. M e t h o d s. A total of 271 participants were enrolled in this study, including 97 MS patients and 30 healthy volunteers who matched for age and sex. Patients with MS were divided into two groups: group I (n= 56; 36 women and 20 men, average age: 41.3±5.5, disease duration: 4.4±1.5 years) – patients with MS who did not have confirmed history of COVID-19 and group II (n= 41; 27 women and 14 men, average age: 40.2±5.6, disease duration: 4.6±1.3 years) – patients with MS, who had a laboratory-verified diagnosis of COVID-19 in the past 4-7 months. Blood serum samples of patients and healthy donors were obtained from the University Clinic of O.O. Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine. All patients were diagnosed with MS according to the 2017 McDonald criteria. R e s u l t s. It was established that both groups of MS patients had similar changes in blood biochemical parameters compared to the healthy indicators: a decrease in creatinine and uric acid concentrations; decrease in the levels of particular lipid fractions, namely VLDL and TAG; decrease in the activities of AP and LDH; increase in C-reactive protein concentration. The only significant differences between groups I and II were noted due to multidirectional changes in serum ferritin concentration and an increase in the level of amylase activity in the blood serum of patients with MS in post- COVID period. C o n c l u s i o n s. The absence of statistically significant differences between the blood biochemical parameters in patients with MS who had or did not have confirmed history of COVID-19 indicates the absence of a relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and changes of particular studied parameters. Among the results obtained, the multidirectional changes in ferritin concentration in MS patients before and after COVID-19 could be of great interest to further research.