The same drug for both forms of the disease: this is the hope aroused by a molecule in the management of multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers from eight countries and sixteen different universities have tested ocrelizumab, a monoclonal antibody, for both forms of MS with encouraging results.
In this autoimmune disease, the body’s immune system attacks the patient’s cells, which in turn destroy myelin in the brain. This substance is essential to allow the passage of information between neurons. This poor transmission causes muscle, balance and vision problems and sometimes irreversible disabilities. MS exists in the primary progressive form in which the symptoms worsen over time, and the relapsing-remitting form which progresses by relapse: disorders appear then regress in a few weeks.
Two trials with similar results
The first study published in the New England Journal of Medicine followed patients between the ages of 18 and 55 with relapsing-remitting disease for two years. Those who received ocrelizumab relapsed half as many as those treated with beta interferon, the current drug used in this form. They also experienced less worsening of their symptoms. Scientists say the antibody works by suppressing B cells, a form of immune cells. However, serious side effects have been observed, such as more frequent infections, sometimes severe, and the occurrence of cancer.
In the second study published in the same review, 732 patients with the progressive form were divided between the new molecule and a placebo drug, without active principle. Ocrelizumab was also shown to be more effective, although it had the same side effects. For researchers, the challenge is therefore to reduce the inconveniences associated with this treatment. Further research will be necessary, but this work has already made it possible to highlight the role of B cells, which can be studied in more detail.
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