Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA.
Ethn Dis. 2012 Spring;22(2):221-5.
The African American (AA) population has a lower risk for developing multiple sclerosis (MS) than Caucasian (CA) population; however, the disease tends to be more severe with early disability in AA. The reason underlying the discrepancy in disease severity is not yet understood, and it could be caused by different response to disease modifying therapies (DMTs).
To evaluate whether there are significant differences in profile of response to disease modifying therapies related to ethnicity, while controlling for disease characteristics.
We performed a retrospective chart analysis of MS patients undergoing treatment with DMTs. Rating of disease progression was based on expanded disability status score (EDSS) difference at the time of first and last visit.
AA and CA patients with MS.
Sex and age at the time of diagnosis did not differ significantly between AA and CA. There was statistically significant difference in disease duration, which was longer among CA patients (P < .001). Median of EDSS difference was higher in AA population than in CA population (P < .001). Increased EDSS difference suggests poorer response to DMTs among AA patients in our study.
AA patients showed poorer response to DMTs when compared with CA patients. This suggests a trend, however, further prospective studies on the response of AA patients to DMTs are warranted.
非裔美国人（AA）患多发性硬化症（MS）的风险低于白种人（CA）；然而，AA 人群的疾病往往更为严重，早期残疾的风险更高。疾病严重程度差异的根本原因尚不清楚，这可能是由于对疾病修正治疗（DMT）的反应不同所致。
评估在控制疾病特征的情况下，与种族相关的疾病修正治疗反应特征是否存在显著差异。
我们对接受 DMT 治疗的 MS 患者进行了回顾性图表分析。疾病进展的评分基于首次和最后一次就诊时扩展残疾状态评分（EDSS）的差异。
AA 和 CA 多发性硬化症患者。
AA 和 CA 患者的性别和诊断时的年龄无显著差异。病程有统计学显著差异，CA 患者的病程较长（P <.001）。EDSS 差异的中位数在 AA 人群中高于 CA 人群（P <.001）。EDSS 差异增加表明 AA 患者对 DMT 的反应较差。
与 CA 患者相比，AA 患者对 DMT 的反应较差。这表明存在一种趋势，但需要进一步对 AA 患者对 DMT 的反应进行前瞻性研究。
