Table 3. Comparisons of the frequencies of antibodies against common infectious agents.
| MS | CSF IgG abnormality (+) | CSF IgG abnormality (−) | HCs | |
| Chlamydia pneumoniae | 56/90 (62.22%) | 42/58 (72.4%)* | 14/32 (43.8%)* | 92/156 (58.97%) |
| Helicobacter pylori | 26/90 (28.89%)** | 19/58 (32.8%) | 7/32(21.9%)*** | 74/177 (41.81%)** , *** |
| EBV | 86/90 (95.56%) | 56/58 (96.6%) | 30/32 (93.8%) | 143/156 (91.67%) |
| VZV | 89/90 (98.89%) | 57/58 (98.3%) | 32/32 (100%) | 153/156 (98.08%) |
*p = 0.0119, compared with IgG abnormality (−) MS patients.
**p = 0.0451, compared with HCs.
***p = 0.0474, compared with HCs.
*,**,***Significant difference between the linked values (p<0.05).
The age of the patients during examination did not differ significantly among HCs and MS patients, regardless of the presence or absence of IgG abnormality (mean ± SD in years: 37.21±12.54 for MS; 36.19±11.36 for IgG abnormality-positive MS; 39.00±14.39 for IgG abnormality-negative MS; and 38.93±12.11 for HCs).
CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; EBV, Epstein-Barr virus; HCs, healthy controls; MS, multiple sclerosis; pcorr, corrected p value; VZV, varicella zoster virus.