Neurology. 2003 Jun 10;60(11):1849-51
Markovic-Plese S, Bielekova B, Kadom N, Leist TP, Martin R, Frank JA,
McFarland HF.
Neuroimmunology Branch (Drs. Markovic-Plese, Bielekova, Leist, Martin,
and McFarland) and Laboratory of Diagnostic Radiology Research (Drs. Kadom
and Frank), National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, NIH,
Bethesda, MD.
An open-label study was performed to assess the effectiveness of oral azathioprine (AZA) on augmenting the response to interferon beta-1b (IFNbeta-1b) in patients with treatment-refractory relapsing-remitting MS.
Six IFNbeta-1b-treated MS patients with continued disease activity were studied on IFNbeta-1b and AZA therapy for a median period of 15 months.
A 69% reduction in the number of contrast-enhancing lesions was observed during the combination therapy (p = 0.002).