More MS news articles for May 2003

News Roundup: New and Noteworthy Information

Selected from:
http://www.neurologyreviews.com/mar03/mar03_newsroundup.html

March, 2003
Gina Matturri
Vol 11, No. 3
Neurology Reviews.com

Intrathecal IgM synthesis

Intrathecal IgM synthesis predicts a worse evolution in the first stages of multiple sclerosis, reported a study in the February Annals of Neurology. Researchers performed oligoclonal band analysis in 29 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis who were followed up for a period of time that spanned five to 16 years. The investigators determined that 70.8% of patients with intrathecal IgM progressed to secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis, while none of the patients lacking intrathecal IgM did. At the end of the study, patients with intrathecal IgM had a mean Expanded Disability Status Scale score of 4.64; the mean score for those without intrathecal IgM was 1.31.

Interferons and Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Interferons may have no proven effect on relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis beyond one year of treatment, according to research published in the February 15 Lancet. After reviewing seven trials published between 1993 and 2002, researchers determined that interferon seemed to reduce the number of patients who had exacerbations during the first year of treatment by about one quarter. However, results at two years’ follow-up were not clear.