Background: Aquaporin 4 (AQP4) is a water-channel protein predominantly expressed in astrocyte end feet that make up the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Recently, anti-AQP4 antibody has been identified as a specific biomarker of neuromyelitis optica (NMO). However, whether anti-AQP4 antibodies damage the BBB is unclear.
Methods: We evaluated BBB damage in patients with NMO and multiple sclerosis by measuring albumin leakage (AL) and studied its correlation with anti-AQP4 antibody.
Results: No obvious difference in AL was observed between patients with and without anti-AQP4 antibodies. In the multivariate analysis, anti-AQP4 antibody was not associated with BBB damage. Of the anti-AQP4-positive patients, 58.0% had normal AL values, and the degree of BBB damage was unrelated to the anti-AQP4 antibody titer. In addition, 41.9% of anti-AQP4-positive patients showed no gadolinium enhancement of the MRI.
Conclusion: These results indicate that the presence of anti-AQP4 antibody alone in plasma is insufficient to disrupt the BBB.
© 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.