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ECTRIMS 2009

source: MSIF

The 25th congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS), the world's largest annual international medical conference dedicated to MS research, attracted 5000 participants from 86 countries, from 9-12 September 2009, in Düsseldorf, Germany.

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MSIF visits the All-Russian MS Society

source: MSIF

In early September, Zoe Burr, MSIF International Development Manager, spent a week visiting the All-Russian Public Organization of Disabled People with Multiple Sclerosis (All-Russian MS Society). The visit formed part of MSIF's Associate Membership application process.

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Last chance to have your say on complementary and alternative therapies

source: MSIF

You have until 12 October 2009 to inform the next issue of MS in focus, on complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) and MS, by taking part in our survey.

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Profile of the Month : January 2010

Pavel Zlobin

Country: Russia
Age: 37
Type of MS: Secondary progressive
Year of Diagnosis: 1999

"MS is still neglected as people think it is a minor problem."

Deutsch English French Italiano Русский

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A type I interferon signature in monocytes is associated with poor response to interferon-{beta} in multiple sclerosis

Interferon beta (IFNb) is one of the accepted treatments for MS. However, its efficacy varies, with a certain percentage of people with MS who receive IFNb experiencing treatment failure. At present there are no biological, clinical or radiological markers that can predict the response to this treatment. It is known that IFNb treatment promotes the formation of proteins from specific genes in immune cells. The authors aimed to investigate whether this protein formation was different between people who had a good response to IFNb and those who had treatment failure. They followed a group of people with MS for two years. Amongst the group who had a good response to treatment, they found that IFNb was able to induce the protein formation by specific genes in the immune cells. They discovered that the group of people with treatment failure had very high levels of protein formation by these genes before starting the IFNb treatment, which meant that IFNb did not induce this effect. These results may help identify people who will experience treatment failure and should receive alternative treatment, therefore saving valuable time.

authors: Comabella M, Lünemann JD, Río J, Sánchez A, López C, Julià E, Fernández M, Nonell L, Camiña-Tato M, Deisenhammer F, Caballero E, Tortola MT, Prinz M, Montalban X, Martin R

source: Brain. 2009 Sep 9

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Asymptomatic reactivation of JC virus in patients treated with natalizumab

Natalizumab is the most recently approved treatment for MS. Its efficacy has been demonstrated in clinical trials and practice. However, despite these clinical effects, there is a risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), which can result in death or severe disability. Therefore its use has been restricted to people with a non- satisfactory response to first line treatments, such as interferon beta and glatiramer acetate. PML occurs after a reactivation of the common JC virus, which remains latent in the kidney and lymphoid organs, after infection. The mechanisms by which this reactivation may occur in people receiving natalizumab are unclear. The authors studied a group of people with MS receiving natalizumab treatment. The main findings of the study were that evidence of potential JC virus reactivation were discovered, as the virus was detected in the urine samples of more than half of the study population after one year of treatment. In addition, after one and a half years, the JC virus was detected in the blood samples of a fifth of the population. None of the participants suffered from PML during the study. Although the mechanisms underlying the reactivation of JC virus remain unclear, these results shed new light on these issues, which might help to design new algorithms for the management of people with MS on natalizumab in order to avoid PML developing.

authors: Chen Y, Bord E, Tompkins T, Miller J, Tan CS, Kinkel RP, Stein MC, Viscidi RP, Ngo LH, Koralnik IJ

source: N Engl J Med. 2009 Sep 10;361(11):1067-74

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The functional index for living with multiple sclerosis: development and validation of a new quality of life questionnaire

The assessment of quality of life in people with MS is crucial since it can be impaired even in early stages of the disease. However, the currently available questionnaires to assess quality of life in MS can sometimes be too difficult and time consuming to be administered in daily clinical practice. For this reason, the authors of this study aimed to develop and validate a new quality of life questionnaire, the FILMS questionnaire, which included 25 items. This questionnaire was easily applied and its results were easily interpreted. The authors found that the FILMS questionnaire was a reliable way to quickly detect the areas of impaired quality of life that require further discussion and assessment.

authors: Wesson JM, Cooper JA, Jehle LS, Lockhart SN, Draney K, Barber K

source: Mult Scler. 2009 Sep 8

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Glucocorticoid treatment restores the impaired suppressive function of regulatory T cells in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

In people with MS, it has been demonstrated that a brief course of steroid treatment has beneficial effects on functional recovery after a relapse. However, the exact mechanisms by which these beneficial effects occur are not yet fully understood. In this work the authors found that the function of specific types of immune cells, the regulatory T cells, whose dysfunction has been associated with the pathogenesis of the disease, seems to be restored after a course of steroids.

authors: Xu L, Xu Z, Xu M

source: Clin Exp Immunol. 2009 Oct;158(1):26-30

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250 mug or 500 mug interferon beta-1b versus 20 mg glatiramer acetate in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a prospective, randomised, multicentre study

Both interferon beta and glatiramer acetate are accepted treatments for MS. Both are first line treatments and, despite having completely different mechanisms of action, clinical trials testing these drugs versus placebo have shown very similar results for both types of drug. However, only a few studies have directly compared the efficacy of immunomodulatory drugs. More specifically, no studies have compared interferon beta 1b (IFNb-1b) with glatiramer acetate (GA). For this reason, the authors aimed to compare the efficacy of IFNb-1b at a standard dose (250mug) or double dose (500mug) versus GA. They found no differences in terms of relapse rate, progression of disability and overall tolerability between the two different treatments or between the two doses of IFNb-1b.

authors: O'Connor P, Filippi M, Arnason B, Comi G, Cook S, Goodin D, Hartung HP, Jeffery D, Kappos L, Boateng F, Filippov V, Groth M, Knappertz V, Kraus C, Sandbrink R, Pohl C, Bogumil T; for the BEYOND Study Group

source: Lancet Neurol. 2009 Sep 1

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Tony Johnstone beats odds in Seniors victory

source: UK MS Trust

Zimbabwean golfer Tony Johnstone, who was once told that MS would prevent him from ever playing again, completed his remarkable recovery on Sunday when he won an emotional British Seniors Masters title.

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UK MS Society wins double at the BMA Patient Information Awards

source: UK MS Society

The MS Society has won two categories in the annual British Medical Association (BMA) awards for excellence in patient information and medical resources.

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Acorda Therapeutics present interim results of their phase III extension study of fampridine-SR

Acorda Therapeutics presented results of their phase III extension study on 10 September 2009 at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS congress. The company showed that fampridine-SR improved walking speed over a two year period.

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Opexa therapeutics announces phase II clinical trial results of its T cell vaccine tovaxin

source: UK MS Society

Opexa therapeutics announced results of its phase II clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of its T cell vaccine, tovaxin, in people with relapsing-remitting MS.

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