miR-142-3p as Potential Biomarker of Synaptopathy in MS

lumbar puncture performed to detect OCB for diagnostic purposes and blood withdrawal for SNP screening

iTBS will be delivered over the scalp site corresponding to the leg area of primary motor cortex contralateral to the affected limb. The active motor threshold (AMT) will be defined as the minimum stimulation intensity required to evoke a liminal motor potential from the Soleus muscle during voluntary contraction. The stimulation intensity will be about 80% of AMT. The iTBS stimulation protocol consists of 10 bursts, each burst composed of three stimuli at 50 Hz, repeated at a theta frequency of 5 Hz every 10 s for a total of 600 stimuli (200 s). If no MEP will be detectable from the contralateral leg, the site of stimulation will be determined as symmetrical to the motor hot spot. If no MEP will be detectable even from the contralateral leg the coil will be held tangentially to the scalp with its centre placed 1 cm ahead and 1 cm lateral from CZ (10-20 EEG system). In these cases, stimulation intensity will be set to 50% of the maximum stimulator output.