Role of high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) in peripheral blood from patients with multiple sclerosis

Table 1 Demographic and baseline clinical characteristics of MS patients and healthy controls included in the HMGB1 expression study

Baseline characteristics	HC	MS ^d	RRMS	SPMS	PPMS
Number of patients	29	57	26	13	18
Age (years)	40.0 (9.1)	43.0 (9.9)	36.8 (7.8)	45.7 (6.5)	49.9 (9.5)
Female/male (% women)	13/16 (44.8)	31/26 (54.4)	16/10 (61.5)	8/5 (61.5)	7/11 (38.9)
Duration of disease (years)	-	9.2 (6.0)	5.7 (4.5)	10.9 (6.3)	10.6 (6.0)
EDSS^a	-	3.9 (2.0-5.9)	1.9 (1.0-2.0)	4.2 (3.5-5.3)	5.3 (4.3-6.5)
Number of relapses^b	-	1.4 (0.9)	1.7 (0.7)	1.1 (1.0)	-
Number of Gd-enhancing lesions^c	-	0.9 (1.9)	1.0 (2.0)	0.7 (1.9)	-

Data are expressed as mean (standard deviation) unless otherwise stated. ^aData are expressed as mean (interquartile range). ^bRefers to the number of relapses in the two previous years of blood extraction. ^cRefers to the number of gadolinium-enhancing lesions at the time of blood extraction. ^dOne RRMS patient had a history of concomitant lupus anticoagulant. One SPMS patient had a past history of uveitis and breast cancer. One RRMS patient received corticosteroid treatment within the month prior to blood extraction for mRNA determination. Information is missing for eight patients (seven PPMS and one SPMS). MS: refers to the whole group of MS patients. EDSS: Expanded Disability Status Scale. RRMS: relapsing-remitting MS. SPMS: secondary progressive MS. PPMS: primary progressive MS. HC: healthy controls.