title: Multiple sclerosis with and without CSF bands: clinically indistinguishable but immunogenetically distinct.
abstract: We sought to determine whether Swedish patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with and without oligoclonal bands (OCBs) in the CSF constitute distinct subpopulations, clinically and immunogenetically. Our findings indicate that OCB-negative MS shares the same clinical features as OCB-positive MS regarding female predominance, age at onset, proportion of primary progressive cases, rate of MRI positivity, and disease severity. Our HLA-DRB1 genotyping results suggest, however, that OCB-positive and OCB-negative MS are immunogenetically distinct.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. kerstin.imrell@ki.se
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imrell
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Landtblom
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hillert
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masterman
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D043025:Oligoclonal Bands / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000276:immunology*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D043025:Oligoclonal Bands