Aquaporin-4 Autoantibodies in Japanese MS Patients

These autoantibodies are associated with long spinal-cord lesions and severe visual impairment in Japanese patients with MS.

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease defined by severe and selective optic nerve and spinal cord inflammation, accompanied by long spinal cord lesions during acute attacks. Autoantibodies to aquaporin-4 (AQP4), a marker for NMO, have also been found in Japanese patients with optic-spinal multiple sclerosis (MS). These authors employed an immunofluorescence assay using transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells to test 128 consecutive Japanese patients with relapsing-remitting MS for AQP4.

Twenty-five of 45 patients (56%) with either long segments of cord atrophy or T2 lesions extending over three or more spinal segments were seropositive for AQP4 autoantibodies. No patient without such lesions was seroposit…

Reviewing Author

Brian G. Weinshenker, MD, FRCP(C)