NFL is a marker of treatment response in children with SMA treated with nusinersen

Recently, the anti-sense oligonucleotide drug nusinersen was approved for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and the aim of this study was to find a response marker for this treatment.

Twelve children with SMA type 1 and two copies of the SMN2 gene were included in a consecutive single-center study. The children were sampled for CSF at baseline and every time nusinersen was given intrathecally. The neuronal biomarkers NFL and tau and the glial biomarker GFAP were measured. Motor function was assessed using CHOP INTEND. Eleven similarly aged children, who were investigated to rule out neurological or infectious disease, were used as controls.

Nusinersen normalized the axonal damage marker NFL and correlated with motor improvement in children with SMA. NFL may, therefore, be a novel biomarker to monitor treatment response early in the disease course.

 

NFL is a marker of treatment response in children with SMA treated with nusinersen. Olsson B, Alberg L, Cullen NC, Michael E, Wahlgren L, Kroksmark AK, Rostasy K, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Tulinius M. J Neurol. 2019 May 23. doi: 10.1007/s00415-019-09389-8. [Epub ahead of print]