Immunotherapy and anti-inflammatory drugs, usually employed for treating the early symptoms of multiple sclerosis, may slow down the accumulation of disability.
Immunotherapy contributes to slowing down disability accumulation in patients suffering from secondary progressive MS (SPMS) during the active phase of the disease, according to an international study published in JAMA Neurology journal. The results of this study suggest that immunotherapy and anti-inflammatory drugs, usually employed for treating the early symptoms of MS, may also be effective in treating more advanced stages of the disease.
"SPMS patients experience a progressive accumulation of disability eventually becoming completely dependent on others", explains Alessandra Lugaresi, professor at the University of Bologna and participant in this research. "To date, there are a few therapies targeting this stage of the disease. This is why it is fundamental to identify further treatment possibilities".
Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) is the most common form of this disease and it presents acute episodes of neurological dysfunction or "relapses" followed by periods of absence of symptoms, also known as "remissions". In time, RRMS may evolve into SPMS, which presents periodical "relapses" causing patients to experience permanent neurological disabilities.
Researchers analysed 1621 SMSP patients and established to what extent the progressing of disability depends on "relapses" as well as if the therapies that are currently employed before and after this stage of MS are actually able to slow down this process.
"So far, results show that therapies and the relapses that followed during the relapsing-remitting phase of MS do not associate with a higher or lower level of disability during the secondary progressive phase", says Lugaresi. "Frequent relapses during this phase are nevertheless associated with a higher risk for patients to become wheelchair-dependant".
"Relapses" emerge as a viable target of treatments, which can delay disability progression. The study shows that immunotherapies acting on the behaviour of the immune system and usually employed in treating the early stages of MS are also effective in slowing down the accumulation of disability in SPMS patients during their active phase, i.e. when they are relapsing.
"We found out a lower rate of disability accumulation in SPSM patients during their active phase in connection with the administration of immunotherapy and anti-inflammatory drugs", says Lungaresi. "These drugs are usually employed in the early stages of the disease but proved to be effective also during secondary progressive MS in case of frequent relapses". This discovery may extend the use of immunotherapy as well as anti-inflammatory drugs to other forms of SPSM, eventually leading to a better prognosis for the patients.
This research was published in the journal JAMA Neurology with the title "Association of Sustained Immunotherapy With Disability Outcomes in Patients With Active Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis”. Researchers at the University of Melbourne (Australia) led the research group. Professor Alessandra Lungaresi from the Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences took part in the research thus representing the University of Bologna.