Fig. 4

Cytokines and GlycA predict therapeutic success vs. failure of methylprednisolone pulse therapy in HAM/TSP patients. A Among all plasma cytokines measured in HAM/TSP patients, only IL-17A significantly decreases after pulse therapy with intravenous methylprednisolone (Wilcoxon test p = 0.003, Bonferroni correction p < 0.05). B Pre-treatment TNF (left panel) and post-treatment IFN-γ (right panel) are correlated with the magnitude of clinical worsening after methylprednisolone pulse therapy (Spearman correlation), measured as quantitative changes in Osame Motor Disability Score. C GlycA levels are significantly increased after methylprednisolone pulse therapy (p = 0.0087, Wilcoxon test, left panel). Pre-treatment GlycA levels are correlated with the magnitude of clinical worsening after methylprednisolone pulse therapy (Spearman correlation, middle panel). A higher TNF/GlycA score (0.025*TNF + 9.18*GlycA − 7.28) predicts worse Osame Motor Disability Score after methylprednisolone pulse therapy (right panel, ANOVA with Bonferroni post-test, *p = 0.010)