Role of AQP4 Antibody Serostatus and Its Prediction of Visual Outcome in Neuromyelitis Optica: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Backgroud: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder, which is characterized by severe attacks of optic neuritis and myelitis. Antibodies (Ab) to aquaporin-4 (AQP4) (or NMO-IgG) as a serological biomarker of NMO have been widespread used. Nevertheless, some NMO patients remain seronegative for AQP4-Ab and/or have no detected optic nerve involvement. In addition, no consensus exists on the association between AQP4-Ab serostatus and visual outcome in NMO. To drive a more precise estimate of this postulated relationship, a metaanalysis was performed based on existing relevant studies. Keywords: Neuromyelitis optica, NMO, AQP4-Ab, NMO-IgG, serostatus, visual outcome, meta-analysis.