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Objective: Cognitive dysfunction is common in multiple sclerosis (MS). The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS) battery of tests has been suggested as a measure for the evaluation of the cognitive status of MS patients. This study aims to validate the BICAMS battery in the Russian population of MS patients. Methods: Age- and sex-matched MS patients (n = 98) and healthy individuals (n = 86) were included in the study. Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), California Verbal Learning Test, 2nd edition (CVLT-II) and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test – Revised (BVMT-R) were administered to all participants. The battery was readministered 1 month later to 44 MS patients to investigate the test–retest reliability. Results: MS patients exhibited a significantly lower performance in testing with BICAMS than the control group in all three neuropsychological tests. Test–retest reliability was good for SDMT and CVLT-II (r = .82 and r = .85, respectively) and adequate for BVMT-R (r = .70). Based on the proposed criterion for impairment as z score below 1.5 SD the mean of the control group, we found that 34/98 (35%) of MS patients were found impaired at least in one cognitive domain. Patients with Expanded Disability Status Scale score ≥3.5 performed significantly worse than controls (SDMT, p < .0001; CVLT–II, p = .03; BVMT-R, p = .0004), while those with ≤3.0 scores did not. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the BICAMS battery is a valid instrument to identify cognitive impairment in MS patients and it can be recommended for routine use in the Russian Federation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Data from the phase 3 ASCLEPIOS I/II trials (ofatumumab vs teriflunomide in people with relapsing multiple sclerosis [MS]) demonstrated that baseline serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels were prognostic for on-study lesion formation in the overall population, including a subgroup of recently diagnosed (within 3 years) treatment-naive (RDTN) participants. OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of ofatumumab vs teriflunomide in reducing relapses and new/enlarging T2 (neT2) lesions in RDTN participants based on their baseline sNfL levels. METHODS: A baseline sNfL cutoff was predefined by the median sNfL value for the overall population across the ASCLEPIOS I/II trials; RDTN participants were stratified into high (≥ median, 9.3 pg/mL) and low (< 9.3 pg/mL) sNfL categories. Adjusted annualized relapse rates (ARRs) and annualized neT2 lesion rates were assessed with ofatumumab vs teriflunomide in each sNfL category over the study duration (up to 30 months). The effect of treatment on the proportion of participants achieving no evidence of disease activity (NEDA-3) at months 12 and 24 was also compared within each sNfL category. RESULTS: In 576 RDTN participants with baseline sNfL available, ARRs were reduced by 63.4% (P = .002) and 37.2% (P = .119) in the high and low sNfL categories, respectively, with ofatumumab vs teriflunomide. Ofatumumab reduced the annualized rate of neT2 lesions by 85.5% and 85.8% vs teriflunomide for high and low sNfL categories, respectively (both P < .001). A higher proportion of participants achieved NEDA-3 status with ofatumumab vs teriflunomide treatment, regardless of baseline sNfL levels (P < .001 in both sNfL groups at all time points). CONCLUSIONS: Ofatumumab was consistently associated with reductions in clinical and radiological activity vs teriflunomide in RDTN participants regardless of their baseline sNfL levels. The results support the benefit of using high-efficacy therapies, such as ofatumumab, at an early stage in the MS disease course irrespective of sNfL levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]