Relationship between Azathioprine metabolites and therapeutic efficacy in Chinese patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders

Table 2 The difference of related variables between non-relapsed and relapsed groups

Variable	Non-relapsed (n = 20)	Relapsed (n = 12)	Mean Difference	Std. Error Difference	p-value
Age of onset, year	33.35	33.16	−0.183	4.740	0.969
Mean BMI	23.89	24.63	0.741	1.415	0.604
Disease duration, months	80.40	94.17	13.77	25.81	0.589
Duration of AZA therapy, months	22.10	20.50	−1.6	2.278	0.488
Mean CSF protein, mg/dl	39.82	41.43	1.613	13.275	0.904
Mean Concentration of CSF IgG, mg/ml	0.040	0.032	−0.008	0.014	0.577
CSF IgG index (n%)	0.546	0.494	−0.519	0.039	0.199
Serum anti-AQP4 antibodies (n%)	10 (50%)	4 (33.3%)	/	/	0.471
Pre-therapy EDSS score	5.17	5.29	/	/	0.687
Post- therapy EDSS score	2.43	2.83	/	/	0.893
Normalized concentration of 6-TGNs	1.12	0.70	−0.418	0.09	<0.0001*
Normalized concentration of 6-MMPNs	10.60	3.62	−6.983	2.32	0.006*

NMOSD, AZA Azathioprine, BMI Body mass index, ARR Annual relapse rate, AQP4 anti-aquaporin 4, EDSS Expanded disability status scale, 6-TGN 6-thioguanine nucleotides, 6-MMPN 6-methylmercaptopurine nucleotides, CSF cerebrospinal fluid, IgG Immunoglobulin G. All two-tailed P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant

ISSN: 1471-2377