Neutralizing antibodies in interferon beta treated patients with multiple sclerosis: knowing what to do now : Commentary to: 10.1007/s00415-010-5844-5 One-year evaluation of factors affecting the biological activity of interferon beta in multiple sclerosis patients' by S. Malucchi et al.

摘要

Longterm treatment of parenterally administered interferon beta (IFNb) is one of the mainstays of multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy [1], The first trials were conducted in the early 1980s when human fibroblast derived IFNb was administered intrathecally in an open-label fashion [2]. In ten patients treated monthly for 6 months a significant reduction of the annualized relapse rate was noted compared to the relapse rate at baseline. This effect was not observed in ten control patients with MS that, for ethical reasons, did not undergo repeat sham lumbar punctures. This prompted a larger multicentre trial in which again human IFNb purified from cultured fibroblasts was administered intrathecally [3].