Immunological Predictors of Dimethyl Fumarate-Induced Lymphopenia

Abstract

Treatment with dimethyl fumarate (DMF) leads to lymphopenia and infectious complications in a subset of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we aimed to reveal immune markers of DMF-associated lymphopenia. This prospective observational study longitudinally assessed 31 individuals with MS by single-cell mass cytometry before and after 12 and 48 weeks of DMF therapy. Employing a neural network-based representation learning approach, we identified a CCR4-expressing T helper cell population negatively associated with relevant lymphopenia. CCR4-expressing T helper cells represent a candidate prognostic biomarker for the development of relevant lymphopenia in patients undergoing DMF treatment. ANN NEUROL 2022;91:676–681.