The Effect of Smoking on Long-term Gray Matter Atrophy and Clinical Disability in Patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objectives

The relationship between smoking, long-term brain atrophy, and clinical disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) is unclear. Here, we assessed long-term effects of smoking by evaluating MRI and clinical outcome measures after 10 years in smoking and nonsmoking patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS).

Methods

We included 85 treatment-naive patients with RRMS with recent inflammatory disease activity who participated in a 10-year follow-up visit after a multicenter clinical trial of 24 months. Smoking status was decided for each patient by 2 separate definitions: by serum cotinine levels measured regularly for the first 2 years of the follow-up (during the clinical trial) and by retrospective patient self-reporting. At the 10-year follo

SUBMITTER: Lie IA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9223432 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature