Neuromyelitis optica positive antibodies confer a worse course in relapsing-neuromyelitis optica in Cuba and French West Indies

Background In Caucasian populations Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO-IgG) antibody has been detected in 27.1% / 78.2% of patients with relapsing-NMO (R-NMO). The prevalence reported for the disease in the Caribbean is 3.1/100,000 in the French West Indies (FWI) and 0.52 /100,000 in Cuba, but the NMO antibo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Multiple sclerosis 2009-07, Vol.15 (7), p.828-833
Main Authors: Cabrera-Gómez, JA, Bonnan, M, González-Quevedo, A, Saiz-Hinarejos, A, Marignier, R, Olindo, S, Graus, F, Smadja, D, Merle, H, Thomas, L, Gómez-García, A, Cabre, P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
African Continental Ancestry Group
Autoantibodies - blood
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - pathology
Cuba - epidemiology
Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases
Disability Evaluation
Disease Progression
European Continental Ancestry Group
Female
Humans
Immunoglobulin G - blood
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Martinique - epidemiology
Medical sciences
Multiple sclerosis and variants. Guillain barré syndrome and other inflammatory polyneuropathies. Leukoencephalitis
Neurology
Neuromyelitis Optica - diagnosis
Neuromyelitis Optica - ethnology
Neuromyelitis Optica - immunology
Recurrence
Severity of Illness Index
Spinal Cord - pathology
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background In Caucasian populations Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO-IgG) antibody has been detected in 27.1% / 78.2% of patients with relapsing-NMO (R-NMO). The prevalence reported for the disease in the Caribbean is 3.1/100,000 in the French West Indies (FWI) and 0.52 /100,000 in Cuba, but the NMO antibody status is unknown. Objective To assess the NMO-IgG antibody status of Cuban/FWI RNMO patients, comparing with European cases tested at the same laboratories. Methods Serum NMO-IgG antibodies were assayed in 48 R-NMO patients (Wingerchuck´s 1999 criteria): Cuba (24)/FWI (24), employing Lennon et al´s method. We compared the demographic, clinical, disability and laboratory data between NMO-IgG +/- patients. All the data were reviewed and collected blinded to the NMO-IgG status. Results Seropositivity of the NMO-IgG antibody demonstrated a lower rate in the Caribbean (33.3%), as compared with Caucasian patients from Spain/Italy (62.5%) and France (53.8%). Caribbean patients with NMO-IgG (+) displayed more attacks, more spinal attacks and a higher EDSS than NMO-IgG (-) cases, while brain and spinal cord MRI lesions were more frequent during remission, with more vertebral segments, more gray, white matter and holocord involvement. Conclusions NMO IgG positive antibodies in NMO patients had a lower rate in the Caribbean area – where the population has a predominant African ancestry – than in Caucasian Europeans, suggesting the influence of a possible ethnic factor in the pathogenesis of the disease, but they confer a worse course with more attacks, more disability and MRI lesions.
ISSN:1352-4585
1477-0970
DOI:10.1177/1352458509104585