Figure 1.

Serum netrin-1 (NTN-1) levels in gadolinium-positive (Gd+) and gadolinium-negative (Gd–) clinically isolated syndrome (CIS)/multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and controls.

Cross-sectional comparisons of serum NTN-1 levels were not significant between CIS patients (n = 13), MS patients (n = 34), and controls (n = 30) (a), and between CIS/MS patients with Gd-enhanced lesions at first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (Gd+ n = 47) and without Gd-active lesions (Gd– n = 32) (b). Only among Gd+ patients, those who were also in a clinically active state of disease (relapse within 30 days prior to examination, n = 8) had significantly lower serum NTN-1 levels compared to clinically non-active Gd+ patients (n = 39) (p = 0.041). NTN-1 levels in clinically active Gd+ were similar to NTN-1 levels in initially Gd– patients (n = 32) (c). Significance (p < 0.05) was assessed by applying Kruskal–Wallis test, or Mann–Whitney U test.

n: number of subjects.