Table 1.

Clinical characteristics of patients with different subtypes of multiple sclerosis, clinically isolated syndrome, and controls.

Clinical characteristic	Patients with MS and CIS (n = 100)
	RRMS  n = 36	SPMS  n = 19	PPMS  n = 21	CIS  n = 24	HC    n = 10
Sex (M/F)a	11/25	7/12	9/12	3/21	4/6
Age (years)b	36.6 ± 8.4  (18–53)	49.5 ± 8.2B,C  (35–61)	57.0 ± 9.2A,B,C,D  (38–73)	34.3 ± 9.5  (20–52)	39.8 ± 12.9  (26–61)A
Duration of disease (years)b	3.9 ± 3.9  (0.0–12.3)	11.3 ± 9.3C  (0.2–31.2)	11.9 ± 8.4C  (0.2–26.2)	NA	NA
EDSSb	1.7 ± 1.6B  (0–6)	4.7 ± 1.7B,C  (2–7)	4.8 ± 2.0B,C  (1–8)	0.0 ± 0.2  (0–1)	NA
Number of relapses/2 yearsb,c	1.6 ± 1.4  (0–5)	0.2 ± 0.5  (0–2)	NA	0.8 ± 0.6  (0–2)	NA
Treatment (NT/IFN/GA)a	13/20/3	18/1/0	21/0/0	24/0/0	NA

MS: multiple sclerosis; CIS: clinically isolated syndrome; RRMS: relapsing-remitting MS; SPMS: secondary progressive MS; PPMS: primary progressive MS; HC: healthy controls; EDSS: expanded disability status scale; NT: no treatment; IFN: interferon-β; GA: glatiramer acetate.

^aNumber of patients.

^bMean ± SD (range).

^cNumber of relapses in the two years before study entry.

Analyses were performed for all four subtypes versus control, as well as between the subtypes. The results from the Mann-Whitney U test are indicated as the Bonferroni-corrected P-values (P < 0.05).

^Acompared to controls.

^Bcompared to CIS.

^Ccompared to RRMS.

^Dcompared to SPMS.