The poor recovery of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder is associated with a lower level of CXCL12 in the human brain

• CXCL12 in human brain was down-regulated in NMOSD patients with poor recovery.
• CXCL12 was negatively related with the up-regulation of NMO-IgG in patients' serum.
• CXCL12 was negatively related with the up-regulation GFAP in NMOSD patients' CSF.
• CXCL12 was related with TNFα concentration in NMOSD patients' CSF.
• Our work confirmed Patel's hypothesis (Acta neuropathologica. 2012; 124:847-60).

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs) are blindness-causing neuritis. In NMOSD patients, NMO-IgG evokes astrocytopathy that in turn causes demyelination. While measurement of NMO-IgG titer will help neurologists make the diagnosis of NMOSDs, it is not sufficient to evaluate the severity of astrocytopathy. In this study, we compared the different levels of an astrocyte biomarker in cerebrospinal fluid of NMOSD patients with good or poor recovery, and then linked their differences to the changes in remyelinating promoter (CXCL12) levels. Our results indicate that NMO-IgG down-regulated CXCL12 and impaired the remyelinating process, this may be a mechanism contributing to the poor recovery of NMOSDs.

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