Blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, inflammatory and immune cell activation, and chronic cerebral hypoperfusion are features of multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim is to determine the influence of endothelin-1 (ET1) and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) on cerebral circulation time (CCT) in patients with MS. In all, 64 patients with MS (39 relapsing-remitting [RR]-MS; 25 secondary progressive [SP]-MS subtype) and 37 controls (C) were studied. Cerebral circulation time was obtained by angiography. Plasmatic ET1 and ADMA were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Lesion load (LL) and brain volume (BV) were obtained by magnetic resonance imaging. Cerebral circulation time was correlated to ET1, ADMA, LL, BV, disease duration (DD), and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). In MS, both ET1 and ADMA were significantly higher than C (P < .0001); CCT was approximately 2 times lower than C (P < .0001) and significantly slower in SP than in RR-MS (P = .0215). Cerebral circulation time significantly correlated with ET1 in SP-MS (r = 0.38), whereas in RR-MS CCT significantly correlated with DD (r = 0.75). The LL, BV, and EDSS did not correlate with CCT. Endothelin-1 significantly influences CCT delay in SP-MS. Diversely, CCT in RR-MS is independent of ET1 and correlates significantly with DD. We conclude that in RR-MS, DD responds to neurovascular damage accumulation. It is supposed that high ET1 and ADMA levels stem from a protective response to early insults, aimed at opposing nitric oxide overproduction, whereas persistent pathological ET1 and ADMA levels translate into detrimental long-term effects, due to increased brain micro-vessel resistance.
Keywords: ADMA; ET1; brain circulation time; multiple sclerosis; progressive.