Table 1. Characteristics of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients included in this study.
| Substudy-1 population | Substudy-2 population | Substudy-3 population | Substudy-4 population | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Untreated RRMS | Discovery group | Validation group | ||||||||
| MBP responders | MBP non-responders | Untreated RRMS | IFN-β treated RRMS | Untreated RRMS | IFN-β treated RRMS | RRMS pre- and on IFN-β treatment | Untreated RRMS | IFN-β treated RRMS | ||
| Patient characteristics | N | 4 | 13 | 18 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 14 | 4 | 4 |
| Age (years) | 29 (26–36) | 37 (32–42) | 34 (27–41) | 36 (32–40) | 36 (29–41) | 35 (32–44) | 29 (26–37) | NA | NA | |
| Female/male | 3/1 | 8/5 | 14/4 | 18/6 | 18/8 | 16/9 | 8/6 | NA | NA | |
| EDSS | 0.5 (0–2) | 1.0 (0.5–3) | 1.5 (1.3–2.8) | 1.5 (1.5–2.5) | 2.0 (1.0–3.5) | 2.5 (1.5–4) | 1.0 (1.0–3.0) | NA | NA | |
| Disease duration (years) | 6.5 (2–11) | 4 (2.5–6.5) | 2.5 (1–8) | 7 (4–10) | 5 (4–9) | 6 (5–10) | 2(2–6) | NA | NA | |
| Substudies | Differentially expressed genes in DNA-array studies | n = 4 | n = 13 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| T-cell proliferation (MBP) | ND | ND | n = 13 | n = 18 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | |
| T-cell proliferation (TT) | ND | ND | N = 12 | N = 18 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | |
| Intracellular cytokine T-cell assay | ND | ND | n = 11 | n = 22 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | |
| mRNA expression studies on CD4+ T-cells | ND | ND | n = 11 | n = 12 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | |
| mRNA expression studies on monocytes | ND | ND | n = 11 | n = 14 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | |
| mRNA-expression in whole blood using PCR | ND | ND | ND | ND | n = 25 | n = 26 | n = 14 | ND | ND | |
| mRNA-expression in whole blood and cell-subsets | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | n = 4 | n = 4 | |
Values are given as median with interquartile range in parenthesis. RRMS = relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis; MBP = myelin basic protein; TT = tetanus toxoid; EDSS = Expanded Disability Status Scale; IFN-β = interferon-β; ND = not done; NA = not applicable.