Table 1.
Demographic and clinical data of participants at baseline.
| AQP4 (n = 51) | MOG‡ (n = 42) | RRMS (n = 31) | HC (n = 28) | p-value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AQP4 vs. MOG | AQP4 vs. RRMS | MOG vs. RRMS | AQP4 vs. HC | MOG vs. HC | RRMS vs. HC | |||||
| Female, n (%) | 44 (86.3) | 22 (52.4) | 17 (54.8) | 12 (57.1) | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0.835 | 0.001 | 0.256 | 0.373 |
| Age at sampling, median (IQR), y | 37 (24–48) | 33 (24–41) | 31 (25–38) | 35 (24–47) | 0.181 | 0.235 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 0.567 | 0.612 |
| Age at onset, median (IQR), y | 33 (20–47) | 27 (17–38) | 24 (22–32) | – | 0.307 | 0.439 | 1.000 | – | – | – |
| Phase (relapse/remission), n | 37/14 | 23/19 | 17/14 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Disease duration, median (IQR), m | 17 (5–66) | 9.5 (1–48) | 17 (5–76) | – | 0.946 | 1.000 | 0.992 | – | – | – |
| Total number of attacks, median (range) | 2 (1–5) | 2 (1–12) | 2 (1–6) | – | 0.885 | 0.885 | 1.000 | – | – | – |
| Intervals from recent relapse to sampling, median (IQR), d | 24 (13–61) | 48 (19–91) | 50 (30–97) | – | 0.220 | 0.193 | 1.000 | – | – | – |
| Sampling during relapse | 16 (10.2–30) | 20 (13–27) | 30 (12–40) | – | 0.537 | 0.357 | 0.405 | – | – | – |
| Sampling during remission | 92 (82–180) | 103 (68.7–345) | 92.5 (71.8–142.5) | – | 0.519 | 0.519 | 1.000 | – | – | – |
| EDSS score at sampling, median (IQR) | 3 (1.5–4) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1.5–3) | – | 0.005 | 0.240 | 1.000 | – | – | – |
| Phenotype of a recent relapse, n (%) | ||||||||||
| ON | 11 (21.5) | 14 (33.3) | 0 | – | 0.647 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Myelitis | 16 (31.3) | 3 (7.1) | 0 | – | 0.004 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Brain | 0 | 10 (23.8) | 5 (16.1) | – | – | – | 0.561 | – | – | – |
| ON and myelitis | 8 (15.7) | 3 (7.1) | 0 | – | 0.334 | – | – | – | – | – |
| ON and Brain | 5 (9.8) | 4 (9.5) | 4 (12.9) | – | 1.000 | 0.724 | 0.716 | – | – | – |
| Myelitis and brain | 6 (11.7) | 7 (16.7) | 19 (61.3) | – | 0.562 | 0.001 | 0.001 | – | – | – |
| ON, myelitis, and brain | 5 (9.8) | 1 (2.4) | 3 (9.6) | – | 0.153 | 1.000 | 0.305 | – | – | – |
| Treatment at sampling, n (%) | ||||||||||
| Steroid | 24 (47.1) | 29 (69.0) | 8 (25.8) | – | 0.038 | 0.065 | 0.001 | – | – | – |
| Steroid and oral immunosuppressant§ | 13 (25.5) | 7 (16.7) | 2 (6.4) | – | 0.325 | 0.001 | 0.286 | – | – | – |
| Rituximab | 1 (2.0) | 1 (2.4) | 1 (3.2) | – | 0.702 | 1.000 | 1.000 | – | – | – |
| Teriflunomide¶ | 0 | 0 | 4 (12.9) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| None | 13 (25.5) | 5 (11.9) | 16 (51.0) | – | 0.119 | 0.019 | 0.001 | – | – | – |
AQP4, aquaporin 4; MOG, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein; RRMS, relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis; IQR, interquartile range; EDSS, Expanded Disability Status Scale; HC, healthy control; ON, optic neuritis; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; y, year; d, day; m, month; AQP4 stands for AQP4-antibody-positive NMOSDs; MOG‡ stands for MOG-antibody-associated diseases (MOGADs); Oral immunosuppressants§ including azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetil; Teriflunomide¶ was the only disease- modifying drug for RRMS in China at the time of investigation. The p-values lower than 0.05 are in bold type.