{
  "abstract": "Background: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a severe autoimmune inflammatory disease for which reliable biomarkers of disease activity are lacking. Meteorin-like protein (Metrnl) has not been investigated in NMOSD; this study assessed its clinical significance in NMOSD patients.\n\nMethods: Serum Metrnl, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-17A levels were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 50 patients with NMOSD and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) and correlated with clinical and laboratory data. Metrnl levels were also remeasured in 30 patients before and after high-dose methylprednisolone therapy, together with derived inflammatory indices. Benjamini–Hochberg false-discovery-rate (FDR) correction was applied within prespecified test families, with a sensitivity power analysis. Metrnl alone and a combined multimarker logistic regression model were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, DeLong tests, bootstrap validation, calibration, and decision curve analysis.\n\nResults: Serum Metrnl levels were higher in NMOSD patients than in HCs and were greater in those with mild disability than in those with moderate-to-severe disability (both p < 0.001); the increase in patients with gadolinium-enhancing lesions was nominal ( p = 0.034, q = 0.068). After FDR correction, serum Metrnl levels correlated negatively with IL-6, IL-17A, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score (all q < 0.05), but not with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Metrnl alone distinguished NMOSD patients from HCs (area under the curve [AUC] 0.752), whereas a combined model of Metrnl, IL-6, IL-17A, and hs-CRP performed markedly better (AUC 0.933; DeLong p < 0.001), increasing specificity from 53.3% to 80.0% at 100% sensitivity. After methylprednisolone therapy, Metrnl, IL-6, and IL-17A levels decreased ( p < 0.001) along with clinical improvement, whereas NLR, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, and SII remained unchanged; the decrease in Metrnl levels (median −25.5%) was the largest and was uncorrelated with changes in other biomarkers.\n\nConclusions: Serum Metrnl levels were elevated in patients with NMOSD, inversely related to disease severity and inflammatory biomarkers, and decreased after immunotherapy, supporting it as a dynamic biomarker of disease activity and a component of a multimarker diagnostic panel. The cross-sectional design precludes causal inference, and exploratory subgroup findings require external validation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Neurology, Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital",
    "Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Li-Min Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yingzhe Shao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hao Cai"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Li Yang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6ynbf0fjcpdn0.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fimmu.2026.1957990",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13710010/",
  "id": "6ynbf0fjcpdn0",
  "issns": [
    "1664-3224"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1957990/full",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2734|Multiple Sclerosis Research Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221674187",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1957990/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13710010",
  "pmid": "42947734",
  "published": "2026-10-13",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6ynbf0fjcpdn0.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:15Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fimmu.2026.1957990",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1957990/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:03Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13710010",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1957990"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "issn:1664-3224",
      "subfield": "immunology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Characteristics of serum Metrnl levels in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and their associations with disease activity and inflammatory biomarkers",
  "title_text": "Characteristics of serum Metrnl levels in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and their associations with disease activity and inflammatory biomarkers",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:21:03Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6ynbf0fjcpdn0",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Immunology",
  "versions": []
}