Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40044201›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

Circadian rhythmicity of symptomatic phenotypes in multiple sclerosis: the CircaMS study protocol and feasibility of biomarker collection.

Doriana Taccardi, Hailey G M Gowdy, Vina Wenyu Li, Ana Cristina Wing, Moogeh Baharnoori, Marcia Finlayson, Nader Ghasemlou

Abstract readClinical Trial Protocol
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Doriana TaccardiDepartment of Biomedical & Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Hailey G M GowdyDepartment of Biomedical & Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Vina Wenyu LiDepartment of Biomedical & Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Ana Cristina WingDepartment of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Moogeh BaharnooriDepartment of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Marcia FinlaysonSchool of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Nader GhasemlouDepartment of Biomedical & Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada nader.ghasemlou@queensu.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1696-7342

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune neurological disease with a variable prognosis and unpredictable course. Fatigue, pain and low mood are common symptoms that tend to fluctuate in people with MS (pwMS). Disrupted circadian rhythms may have a role in the symptoms' variability. Distinguishing interindividual differences and temporal daily fluctuations in MS symptoms may help to define specific symptomatic phenotypes. Understanding how these phenotypes are associated with quality of life and their immunological underpinnings-immune profiles-could shape new MS management strategies. Our primary aim is to document ongoing fluctuations in fatigue, pain and mood in a cohort of pwMS to determine whether symptom variability is associated with differential quality of life. Our secondary aim is to evaluate the feasibility of our study design to identify immune profiles of circadian rhythmicity in MS. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This observational cohort study examines individual temporal fluctuations in MS symptomatology via ecological momentary assessment in a cohort of pwMS. All participants complete (1) a baseline battery of questionnaires and (2) electronic symptom-tracking diaries to rate fatigue, pain intensity and mood on a 0-10 scale at three time points (08:00, 14:00 and 20:00) for 10 days. Participants will be grouped into symptomatic phenotypes based on longitudinal data from e-diaries. We will assess whether exhibiting a specific phenotype is associated with certain baseline measures. A subgroup of 20 participants-feasibility study-will also complete blood sample collection two times within 24 hours to study immune profiles and molecular markers of circadian rhythmicity in MS. Flow cytometry, whole blood RNA sequencing and plasma analyses will be applied to determine changes in immune profiles indicative of circadian rhythmicity.This work has the potential to reduce the burden of this complex disease on a global scale. Future studies will build on our work to understand individual variability in MS symptomatology, including disease severity; identification of biomarkers underlying the association between rhythmic symptomatology profiles and symptomatic phenotypes in MS; and designing personalised interventions focused on interindividual differences in symptomatology and circadian rhythmicity. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The CircaMS project and its associated procedures have been reviewed and approved by the Queen's University Health Sciences and Affiliated Teaching Hospitals research ethics board (File number: 6039383). Participants provide informed consent to participate, and their data will not be identifiable in any publication or report. All documents are stored securely and only accessible by study staff and authorised personnel. The results will be presented to academic and lay audiences via national/international conferences, publications in peer-reviewed journals, social media and through an official website created to engage pwMS, caregivers, clinicians and researchers.

Indexed as

Circadian RhythmFatigueMultiple SclerosisAdultAffectBiomarkersCohort StudiesEcological Momentary AssessmentFeasibility StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedObservational Studies as TopicPainPhenotypeBiomarkersChronic PainEPIDEMIOLOGYFatigueIMMUNOLOGYImmunophenotypingMultiple sclerosis

Identifiers

PMID40044201
PMCPMC11883553

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.