Natalizumab for Multiple Sclerosis
This is the Medscape Neurology Minute. I'm Dr. Alan Jacobs. Researchers from Göteborg, Sweden,have published a multicenter study of the effect of natalizumab, a monoclonal antibody that prevents lymphocyte migration across the blood-brain barrier, on the release of 2 brain-specific tissue damage markers in the cerebrospinal fluid of 92 patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Levels of neurofilament light and glial fibrillary acidic protein were assayed from prospectively collected spinal fluid at baseline before and after 6 or 12 months of natalizumab therapy. Natalizumab treatment led to a 3-fold reduction of neurofilament light levels from a mean of 1300 to 400. This lowered level was not significantly different from that found in healthy control patients. No differences between pre- and posttreatment levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein were detected. The investigators concluded that natalizumab treatment reduces the accumulation of nerve injury in relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, and that highly effective anti-inflammatory treatment can reduce axonal loss, thereby preventing development of permanent neurologic disability.
This article was selected from Medscape Best Evidence. I'm Dr. Alan Jacobs.
Abstract
This is the Medscape Neurology Minute. I'm Dr. Alan Jacobs. Researchers from Göteborg, Sweden,have published a multicenter study of the effect of natalizumab, a monoclonal antibody that prevents lymphocyte migration across the blood-brain barrier, on the release of 2 brain-specific tissue damage markers in the cerebrospinal fluid of 92 patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Levels of neurofilament light and glial fibrillary acidic protein were assayed from prospectively collected spinal fluid at baseline before and after 6 or 12 months of natalizumab therapy. Natalizumab treatment led to a 3-fold reduction of neurofilament light levels from a mean of 1300 to 400. This lowered level was not significantly different from that found in healthy control patients. No differences between pre- and posttreatment levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein were detected. The investigators concluded that natalizumab treatment reduces the accumulation of nerve injury in relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, and that highly effective anti-inflammatory treatment can reduce axonal loss, thereby preventing development of permanent neurologic disability.
This article was selected from Medscape Best Evidence. I'm Dr. Alan Jacobs.
Abstract
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