Role of the immune system in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Analysis of the natural killer cells and other circulating lymphocytes in a cohort of ALS patients

Table 1 Clinical and Demographic characteristics of the ALS patients (n = 92) and the Disease Controls (DC: PLS + PPMS; n = 58). Data are expressed as median with interquartile ranges

Variable	ALS (n = 92)	DC (n = 58)	p
Age at onset	65 (58–71)	54 (40–68)	0.001*
Sex (M/F)	1.24	1.46	0.460**
Interval onset-assay (months)	15 (9–29)	47 (21–67)	< 0.001*
Onset
Spinal, n (%)	62 (67.4)	n.a.
Bulbar, n (%)	30 (32.6)	n.a.
ALSFRS-R^a	37 (32–42)	n.a.
ΔFS	0.67 (0.38–1.17)	n.a.
FVC%^a	86 (67–95)	n.a.

^aevaluation at the time of the assay. * Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test; ** chi-square; n.a.: not applicable

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