summary: 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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category: Genetics
category: Clinical Trials and Therapeutics

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