Neutralizing antibodies explain the poor clinical response to Interferon beta in a small proportion of patients with Multiple Sclerosis: a retrospective study

Table 2 Baseline characteristics of the patients grouped according to the clinical response to IFNβ

Characteristics	Group A (n = 47)	Group B (n = 47)	Group C (n = 47)	p
Age (years)	38.2 ± 10 (23-64)	40.4 ± 10.8 (21-67)	37.3 ± 7.9 (23-56)	0.29
Disease duration (years)	10.6 ± 5.3 (3-24)	12.5 ± 6.3 (4-34)	9.9 ± 6.3 (2-28)	0.11
Therapy duration (years)	4.4 ± 2.3 (1-10)	4.1 ± 1.9 (1-10)	4.3 ± 2.2 (1-10)	0.79

All values are means ± SD(range)
Group A: patients experiencing at least one relapse after the first 6 months of therapy without confirmed disease progression. Group B: patients experiencing a sustained disability progression (increase of ≥ 1.0 point on the EDSS, or ≥ 0.5 points if baseline EDSS score was ≥ 5.5) with or without superimposed relapses during the treatment period. Group C: patients with a stable disease, i.e., no relapse and/or disability progression.

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