summary: MS is an autoimmune disease of unknown cause with a very complex pathogenesis. The aim of MS treatments is to modulate rather than suppress the immune system.

Glatiramer acetate (GA) is an accepted immunomodulatory treatment for MS. In addition to its most commonly known mechanism of action, which consists of blocking the interaction between T-cells and myelin, some other mechanisms of action have been proposed. In people who receive GA, the assessment of a specific property of their T-cells can be used to monitor its beneficial therapeutic effects.

Furthermore, other treatments with immunosuppressant properties, such as mitoxantrone, have been also proven to be effective in MS. It has been demonstrated that a short period of treatment of mitoxantrone before treatment with GA improves the clinical response to GA.

The authors of this study have investigated the impact of mitoxantrone when given immediately before the treatment with GA on this specific property of the T-cells which had been previously associated with the therapeutic effects of GA. However, they found that the treatment with mitoxantrone did not modify this specific property of the T-cells. These results highlight the complexity of the mechanism of action of GA.

authors: Bar-Or A, Oger J, Gibbs E, Niino M, Aziz T, Renoux C, Alatab S, Shi F, Campagnolo D, Jalili F, Rhodes S, Yamashita T, Fan B, Freedman M, Panitch H, Arnold D, Vollmer T.

source: Mult Scler. 2009 Aug;15(8):959-64

weblink: click here

category: Clinical Trials and Therapeutics

related research news: click here

glossary: