Some cytokines/chemokines might play significant functions in the occurrence and development of ANAS by affecting the functions of T and B cells. paraneoplastic neurological syndrome (PNS). With regards to anti-neuron antibodies, 42 patients tested positive for anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibody, 19 for anti-Hu, 14 for anti-Yo and 12 for anti-PNMA2 (Ma2). There were significant differences between the ANAS and control groups in serum B cell-activating factor (BAFF) levels and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) C-X-C motif chemokine10 (CXCL10), CXCL13, interleukin10 (IL10), BAFF and transforming growth factor 1 (TGF1) levels. Predictors of poor outcomes included having tumours (= 0.0193) and using a chronic onset (= 0.0306), and predictors of relapses included MB05032 having lower levels of CSF BAFF (= 0.0491) and having a larger ratio of serum TGF1/serum CXCL13 (= 0.0182). Conclusions Most patients with ANAS had a relatively good prognosis. Having tumours and a chronic onset were both associated with poor outcomes. CSF BAFF and the ratio of serum TGF1/serum CXCL13 were associated with relapses. ?0.1) were included in the following multiple logistic regression analyses. We used a stepwise approach for variable evaluation (backward selection based on likelihood ratio) for the identification of relevant impartial variables to be used in the regression model, MB05032 with a value of less than 0.05 indicating statistical significance. To facilitate the comparison of effect sizes between cytokines, cytokine distributions were standardized to a mean of 0 and a standard deviation [SD] of 1 1. We performed all the statistical analyses with SAS, version 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary NC, USA). Results Patients and clinical features A total of 110 patients who tested positive for anti-neuron antibodies were identified in this study. The patients had a median age of 47?years (range: 0.8C78?years), and 54 (49.1%) of the patients were women. Fifty-two patients (47.3%) had an acute onset, 45 (40.9%) had a chronic onset and 13 (11.8%) had a subacute onset. Thirty-three patients (30%) were identified as having MRI (FLAIR)/T2 abnormalities (excluding ischaemic lesions), 52 (47.3%) had EEG/EMG abnormalities, 41 (37.3%) had a leucocytosis in the CSF MB05032 (white blood cells ?5?106/L) and 30 (27.3%) had elevated CSF protein levels ( ?450?mg/L) (Table ?(Table11). Table 1 Patient demographics and clinical features , antibodies, tumours in different groups autoimmune encephalitis, paraneoplastic neurological syndromes, Magnetic resonance imaging fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, electroencephalogram, electromyogram, cerebrospinal fluid, protein, N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor Regarding the anti-neuron antibodies in the patients, 42 patients (38.2%) tested positive for anti-NMDAR antibodies, 19(17.3%)for anti-Hu, 14 (12.7%)for anti-Yo, 12 (10.9%) for anti-PNMA2, 8(7.3%) for anti-Amphiphysin, 8 (7.3%) for anti-CV2 and Rabbit Polyclonal to STAT1 (phospho-Tyr701) 7 for others (6.4%). As reported [13], 43 (39.1%) patients (42 for anti-NMDAR and 1 for anti-GABABR) were classified as AE, and the other 67 patients (60.9%) were classified as PNS. Factors significantly associated with PNS patients included using a chronic onset ( ?0.0001), an elevated CSF protein level (= 0.0116), tumours (= MB05032 0.0005), no relapse (= 0.0113) and poor outcomes (= 0.0004) when compared to AE patients. In this study, 40(36.4%) patients had a tumour. Nine tumours (8.2%) were non-small cell lung cancers, 6 (5.5%) were small cell lung cancers, 5 (4.5%) were breast cancers, 3 (2.7%) were ovarian teratomas and 17 MB05032 (15.5%) were other tumours. At the final follow-up, 37 patients (33.6%) had poor outcomes. In patients with the poor outcomes, we recorded significant relevant factors, including using a chronic onset (= 0.0002), an elevated CSF protein level (= 0.0075), tumours ( ?0.0001) and no relapse (= 0.0081). During the follow-up, 33 patients (30%) had clinical relapses, including 23 patients (23/30, 76.7%) that relapsed once and 1 patient that relapsed 8 occasions. We also recorded significant positive correlations between using a relapse and an acute onset (= 0.0163), MRI (FLAIR)/T2 abnormalities (= 0.0345) and a normal CSF protein level (= 0.0012). Analysis of cytokines/chemokines In this study, we collected 105 serum samples and 51 samples of CSF from ANAS patients and 21 serum samples and 20 samples of CSF from the control group. There were significant differences in serum BAFF levels (=.