TABLE 4.
Clinical, imaging and laboratory features in high vs. low type I IFN groups (See Methods for classification).
| High IFN (n = 26) | Low IFN (n = 116) | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||
| Female sex (%) | 92.3 | 66.4 | 0.008 |
| Age (years) [median (IQR)] | 40.9 (24.9) | 37.7 (17.6) | 0.450 |
| Age of onset (years) [median (IQR)] | 35.9 (17.5) | 36.2 (17.5) | 0.847 |
| Family History (%) | |||
| MS | 5.3 | 13.9 | 0.298 |
| Systemic/Organ-specific autoimmune disease | 21.1 | 28.0 | 0.531 |
| Comorbidities (%) | |||
| Hypertension | 4.5 | 9.8 | 0.431 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 13.6 | 12.9 | 0.923 |
| Current clinical evaluation (%) | |||
| Active optic neuritis | 9.1 | 17.7 | 0.317 |
| Brainstem | 18.2 | 34.8 | 0.126 |
| Pyramidal tracts | 81.8 | 69.6 | 0.247 |
| Cerebellar | 40.9 | 29.5 | 0.290 |
| Sensory tracts | 50.0 | 37.5 | 0.273 |
| Bowel/Bladder | 18.2 | 15.2 | 0.723 |
| MRI findings (%) | |||
| Demyelinating brain or spine lesions | 69.6 | 77.0 | 0.449 |
| Nonspecific brain WMH | 13.0 | 7.1 | 0.346 |
| Nonspecific brain WMH with demyelinating spine lesions | 17.4 | 8.9 | 0.225 |
| Areas affected in MRI (%) | |||
| Cortical/juxtacortical/deep white matter (non-periventricular supratentorial) | 91.7 | 68.4 | 0.020 |
| Periventricular | 91.7 | 80.2 | 0.181 |
| Infratentorial | 45.8 | 57.5 | 0.295 |
| Optic Nerve | 12.5 | 9.6 | 0.664 |
| Corpus Callosum | 44.4 | 46.8 | 0.854 |
| Cervical spine | 60.9 | 54.7 | 0.590 |
| Thoracic spine | 53.8 | 45.3 | 0.574 |
| Gadolinium enhancement (%) | |||
| Any enhancement during the last 30 days | 41.7 | 45.7 | 0.718 |
| CSF findings (%) | |||
| Positive T2 OCBs | 50.0 | 47.6 | 0.852 |
| High IgG Index | 35.3 | 37.6 | 0.854 |
| Immune profile (%) | |||
| ANA titers ≥1/320 | 21.7 | 4.6 | 0.01 |
| Any specific autoantibody a , medium positive | 11.5 | 16.2 | 0.548 |
| Any specific autoantibody a , strong positive | 15.4 | 5.1 | 0.064 |
| Anti-cardiolipin IgM | 13.0 | 17.0 | 0.643 |
| Anti-cardiolipin IgG | 0 | 0 | |
| Anti-β2GPI IgM | 4.8 | 4.7 | 0.986 |
| Anti-β2GPI IgG | 4.5 | 1.9 | 0.443 |
| Laboratory parameters [median (IQR)] | |||
| White blood cells (per μl) | 5850.0 (2825.0) | 6900.0 (2300.0) | 0.064 |
| Neutrophils (per μl) | 3500.0 (2010.0) | 4000.0 (2225.0) | 0.047 |
| Lymphocytes (per μl) | 1850.0 (1231.8) | 2000 (800) | 0.225 |
| Platelets (103 per μl) | 229.0 (93.0) | 267.5 (88.5) | 0.088 |
a
anti-nRNP/Sm, anti-Sm, anti-SSA/Ro60, anti-Ro52, anti-SSB/La, anti-Scl70, anti-PM-Scl-100, anti-CENP B, anti-PCNA, anti-dsDNA, anti-nucleosomes, anti-histones, anti-AMA-M2, anti-Jo1, and anti-ribosomal P
Abbreviations ANA = anti-nuclear antibodies, CSF = cerebrospinal fluid, IFN = interferon, Ig = immunoglobulin, IQR = interquartile range, MRI = magnetic resonance imaging, MS = multiple sclerosis, OCBs = oligoclonal bands, WMH = white matter hyperintensities, and β2GPI = beta-2-glycoprotein-I