Table 5. Frequencies of antibodies against common infectious agents among MS patients with and without the HLA-DRB1*0405 allele and healthy controls.
| Infections | HCs | HLA-DRB1*0405(−) MS | HLA-DRB1*0405(+) MS |
| EBV | 143/156 (91.67%) | 71/71 (100.0%)*a, *b | 48/56 (85.71%) |
| VZV | 153/156 (98.08%) | 70/71 (98.59%) | 56/56 (100.0%) |
| Helicobacter pylori | 74/177 (41.81%) | 23/71 (32.39%) | 21/56 (37.5%) |
| Chlamydia | 92/156 (58.97%) | 46/71 (64.79%) | 32/56 (57.14%) |
*a
pcorr = 0.0324, as compared with HCs.
*b
pcorr = 0.0033, as compared with HLA-DRB1*0405 (+) MS.
The age of patients during examination was not significantly different among HCs and MS patients, regardless of the presence or absence of the DRB1*0405 allele (mean ± SD in years; 35.22±12.18 in DRB1*0405-positive MS patients, 40.74±12.41 in DRB1*0405-negative MS patients, and 38.93±12.11 in HCs).
EBV, Epstein-Barr virus; HCs, healthy controls; MS, multiple sclerosis; VZV, varicella zoster virus.