title: [Seroprevalence and diagnostic value of aquaporin-4 antibody in patients with inflammatory central nervous system demyelinating diseases].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the seroprevalence and diagnostic value of aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4-Ab) in patients with inflammatory central nervous system demyelinating diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-two patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO), 68 with multiple sclerosis (MS), 4 with optic neuritis (ON), and 41 with transverse myelitis (TM) were included in this study. The TM group comprised 19 patients with non-longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (nLETM), 14 with monophasic longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (mLETM), and 8 with recurrent longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (rLETM). The serum levels of AQP4-Ab was detected by indirect immunofluorence assay in these patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  AQP4-Ab was detected in 72.2% (52/72) patients with NMO, 5.9% (4/68) patients with MS, 25.0% (1/4) patients with ON, and 17.1% (7/41) patients with TM, showing a significant difference in the positivity between NMO and MS groups (P<0.01). AQP4-Ab seropositivity rate was 5.3% (1/19) in nLETM patients, 62.5% (5/8) in rLETM patients and 7.1% (1/14) in mLETM patients, significantly higher in rLETM than in nLETM (P<0.01) and mLETM groups (P<0.05), but no statistical difference was found between rLETM and NMO groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high seroprevalence of AQP4-Ab is observed in patients with NMO and rLETM, which support the hypothesis that NMO and rLETM belong to NMO spectrum disorders. AQP4-Ab can serve as a useful index for diagnosing NMO and differential diagnosis from MS. More attention and effective immunosuppressive treatments should be given to patients positive for AQP4-Ab.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, General Hospital of PLA, Beijing 100853, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: De-Hui
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wei-Ping
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D051401:Aquaporin 4 / Q000276:immunology*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D020278:Demyelinating Autoimmune Diseases, CNS / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D009471:Neuromyelitis Optica / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: C496030:AQP4 protein, human; D051401:Aquaporin 4; D001323:Autoantibodies