CXCL13 Level in Children with Acute and Relapsing Demyelinating Disorders of the Nervous system

Abstract

Background The chemokine, C-X-C motif ligand 13 (CXCL13) plays an important role in B cell recruitment within the central nervous system (CNS). CXCL13 has been implicated as key regulatory factor in inflammatory CNS disorders including autoimmune CNS diseases. Aim of the Work To compare between the serum level of CXCL13 in patients diagnosed with acute central or peripheral demyelination and in healthy age and gender matched controls. Patients and Methods Twenty patients (patients’ group) diagnosed with acute demyelinating diseases (acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM; n = 7), acute necrotizing encephalopathy of childhood (ANEC; n = 3), autoimmune encephalitis (AE; n = 3), transverse myelitis (TM; n = 3), Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS; n = 4) and 40 healthy age and gender matched children (control group), were enrolled in the study. All patients were subject to full history, examination and measurement of serum levels of CXCL13 in both cases and controls. Results Serum CXCL13 level status was significantly higher in cases compared to controls (p < 0.001). The mean serum CXCL13 level in cases was (341.75 ± 164.71 pg/ml) and in control was (51.5 ± 18.99 pg/ml). Conclusion Serum CXCL13 levels are significantly increased in pediatric patients with acute acquired central and peripheral demyelinating diseases of the nervous system.