Journal
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS JOURNAL
Volume 15, Issue 7, Pages 834-847Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/1352458509104595
Keywords
aquaporin-4; autoantibody; cytokine; neuromyelitis optica; opticospinal multiple sclerosis; Th2
Categories
Funding
- Research Committees of Neuroimmunological Diseases
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background Antibodies to aquaporin-4 (AQP4) are found in a fraction of Japanese opticospinal multiple sclerosis (OSMS) patients. However, it remains unknown whether anti-AQP4 antibody-positive and negative OSMS patients possess an identical disease. Objective The objective of the current study was to clarify immunological differences between the two groups of patients. Methods We studied the serum antibody titers against AQP4 in 191 patients with idiopathic central nervous system demyelinating diseases and clarified their relationships with immunological parameters. Results Anti-AQP4 antibody positivity rate was higher in patients with OSMS (21/58, 36.2%), idiopathic recurrent myelitis (4/17, 23.5%), and recurrent optic neuritis (7/26, 26.9%), than in conventional MS (CMS) patients (6/90, 6.7%) and patients with other diseases (0/87). Anti-AQP4 antibody titer was significantly higher in patients with SS-A/B antibodies than in those without them. Anti-AQP4 antibody-negative OSMS patients showed significantly higher CD4(+) IFN-gamma+IL-4(-)T cell percentages and intracellular IFN-gamma/IL-4 ratios than anti-AQP4 antibody-positive patients, anti-AQP4 antibody-negative CMS patients, and healthy controls, and CD4(+)IFN-gamma+IL-4(-)T cell percentages were negatively correlated with anti-AQP4 antibody titers. Conclusion Anti-AQP4 antibody-positive patients are immunologically distinct from anti-AQP4 antibody-negative OSMS patients owing to a Th2 shift in the former group in comparison to a Th1 shift in the latter. Multiple Sclerosis 2009; 15: 834-847. http://msj.sagepub.com
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available