Research in Antibody-Caused Diseases: Seronegative NMOSD May Be MOG Antibody Disease
If you have been told you have NMOSD (neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders) but are ‘seronegative’, it’s because your blood tests have shown that you do not have the most common antibodies in this autoimmune disease, aquaporin-4 antibodies (AQP4-IgG). In the past few years, researchers have studied other antibodies besides AQP4-IgG, and that’s how the MOG Antibody was discovered.
Testing positive for the MOG antibody provides a diagnosis of MOG Antibody Disease (MOGAD). Although MOGAD seems to have similar symptoms as NMOSD, there are some differences, and the treatments for NMOSD may not be effective if you have MOGAD.
The Difference is in the Antibody
Researchers wanted to identify how many of the people who are diagnosed as having seronegative NMOSD end up testing positive for MOGAD. They reviewed the cases of 132 people over 4 years who had been diagnosed with NMOSD of which 96 (73%) had tested positive for the AQP4 antibody, leaving 36 (27%) who did not.
The 36 seronegative patients were then tested for MOG-IgG and 15/36 (42%) tested positive for the MOG antibody.
Researchers concluded that about half of those with a seronegative NMOSD diagnosis could be MOG-Ig seropositive. Since MOGAD is different from NMOSD with AQP4-IgG because of its cause, the risk for relapse, and type of treatment needed, getting tested for MOG-IgG may be important if you have been previously told you have AQP4-IgG-negative NMOSD.
Source: Hamid SHM, Whittam D, et al. “What proportion of AQP4‑IgG‑negative NMO spectrum disorder patients are MOG‑IgG positive? A cross sectional study of 132 patients.” J Neurol 2017, 264: 2088–2094.
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