Figure 8. FoxP3 mRNA expression levels in a second group of ALS patients were reflective of progression rates at the time of collection, and low FoxP3 levels predicted future rapid progression rates.

Leukocyte mRNAs from 102 patients were collected over a 3-year period during the early stages of disease and evaluated for FoxP3 mRNA expression levels. These levels were compared with progression rates both at the time of collection and at the end of the evaluation period (3.5 years).

1. With this new ‘test’ set of 102 patients, ALS patients with low FoxP3 mRNA expression levels (based on cutoffs determined by the ROC analysis of the original 54 patients) early in disease progressed more rapidly than patients with high FoxP3 levels, both at the time of collection and at the end of the evaluation period. *p < 0.05 versus high FoxP3 levels, **p < 0.01 versus high FoxP3 levels.
2. FoxP3 levels of this new ‘test’ set of patients were reflective of progression rates at the time of collection and low FoxP3 levels were predictive of future rapid progression rates. At the time of collection, low FoxP3 levels correctly predicted rapid progression rates 69% of the time, and high FoxP3 levels correctly predicted slow progression rates 75% of the time. At the end of the analysis period, low FoxP3 levels correctly predicted rapid progression rates 82% of the time, and high FoxP3 levels correctly predicted slow progression rates 53% of the time. ^aCutoff levels were defined by the prior ROC curve analyses (Fig 7; FoxP3 = 0.66). ^bLevels were compared with progression rates both at the time of collection and at the end of the evaluation period. ^cEvaluation period = 3.5 years.