a trend towards significancep = 0.095
In addition, cortisol levels in CSF correlated with duration of MS (r = 0.490, p = 0.039) and with a trend towards significance with time to a score of 6 on the expanded disability status scale (EDSS6) (r = 0.432, p = 0.095), confirming earlier findings that high HPA-axis activity coincides with slower disease progression and relatively mild MS [ 35 , 58 ].