High prevalence and indexes of anti-John Cunningham virus antibodies in a cohort of Chinese patients with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

We performed a cross-sectional study in 123 Chinese multiple sclerosis patients residing in Hong Kong to evaluate their anti-John Cunningham virus status using STRATIFY JCV DxSelect assays. Anti-John Cunningham virus antibody was present in 98/123 (80%) subjects, among which 75/98 (77%) had an anti-John Cunningham virus index ≥1.5. Anti-John Cunningham virus antibody seropositivity was not correlated with age, disease duration, Expanded Disability Status Scale scores, types of multiple sclerosis (relapsing vs progressive), or disease-modifying treatments used. We found a very high seroprevalence and index of anti-John Cunningham virus antibodies in Chinese multiple sclerosis patients, which may impact the risk assessment and recommendation of disease-modifying treatments in this population.

Keywords: Anti-John Cunningham virus antibody; Chinese; anti-John Cunningham virus index; multiple sclerosis; progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

Figure 1.

Patient characteristics and serostatus to anti-John Cunningham virus (JCV) antibody assay in a cohort of Chinese patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). CIS: clinically isolated syndrome; CU-MSR: Chinese University of Hong Kong Multiple Sclerosis Registry; NMOSD: neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder; PPMS: primary progressive MS; RRMS: relapsing–remitting MS; SPMS: secondary progressive MS.

Figure 2.

Seroprevalence of anti-John Cunningham virus antibody (JCV-Ab) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients across different regions in the world.^, Prior exposure to natalizumab was highly variable (0–98%). *Sample size of studies is shown in the number of individual bars.