Levels of serum AQP4-Ab, IL-6, GFAP and ApoE in patients with optic neuromye-litis and their correlation with astrocyte damage

Abstract

Objective To analyze the expression levels of serum AQP4-Ab, IL-6, GFAP, and ApoE in patients with optic neuromyelitis and their correlation with astrocyte damage. Methods 86 patients with optic neuromyelitis treated at our hospital from February, 2016 to February, 2019 were selected as study objects, and were included in an observation group. Another 86 patients with tension headache treated in our hospital during the same period were selected as a control group. The expression levels of AQP4-Ab, IL-6, GFAP, and ApoE in the serum of the two groups were compared. The correlation of the expression levels of AQP4-Ab, IL-6, GFAP, and ApoE with astrocyte damage was analyzed. Results The levels of AQP4-Ab, IL-6, and GFAP in serum and cerebrospinal fluid were significantly higher and the level of ApoE in serum and cerebrospinal fluid were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group (all P< 0.05). In the observation group, the EDSS score positive-ly correlated with the levels of AQP4-Ab, IL-6, and GFAP in cerebrospinal fluid, and nega-tively with ApoE (all P<0.05). Conclusion Patients with optic neuromyelitis have astro-cyte damage during the disease onset. The increase of AQP4-Ab, IL-6, and GFAP in serum and cerebrospinal fluid and the decrease of ApoE may promote the disease’s occurrence and pro-gress. The clinical detection of the above indicators is of great significance for the iden-tification of the disease progress. Key words: Optic neuromyelitis; Astrocyte damage; Aquaporin 4 antibody; Apolipoprotein E; Glial fibrillary acidic protein