ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Peripheral inflammation can exacerbate pre-existing lesions in the Central Nervous System (CNS) in the context of neurodegenerative diseases, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical effect of COVID-19 infection, as a generator of peripheral inflammation, in a MS patients group. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 400 medical records of MS patients from a referral center was carried out. MS patients who presented COVID-19 were surveyed about symptoms exacerbation: type, duration and onset of exacerbation, previous vaccination against COVID-19 and MS severity. Clinical and demographic information from the medical records were included. Descriptive and inferential analysis were performed using the GraphPad Prism V6. RESULTS: 41 patients were included, 61% (n = 25) reported neurological worsening, 9.7% (n = 4) as relapses, and 7.3% (n = 3) required corticosteroids. We found significant differences in the EDSS between patients who exacerbated their MS symptoms and those who did not (p = 0.03). When performing a multivariate regression analysis, we found that EDSS was independently associated with the presence of exacerbations of MS in the context of SARS-CoV2 infection (OR = 2.44, p = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study suggests that COVID-19 infection could trigger exacerbations of MS symptoms. New studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between COVID-19 and MS.