REPORT FROM THE ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS – BOSTON, MA, SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2014 – The assessment of treatment response has evolved over the past two decades of DMT use, with early trials focusing on relapse rates and disability progression. Indeed, the pivotal trial of glatiramer acetate did not evaluate the effect of treatment on MRI (Johnson et al. Neurology 1995;45:1268-1276).

Since that time, individual clinical (relapses, EDSS) and radiological measures have become the gold standard for evaluating treatment effects, although a number of authors have reported that combining metrics may have prognostic value (Sormani et al. Mult Scler 2013;19:605-612). Read More

REPORT FROM THE ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS – BOSTON, MA, SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2014 – The proliferation of new treatments in development for MS has made it increasingly challenging to recruit a sufficient number of eligible study subjects, most notably for studies involving pediatric or untreated patients. Read More

REPORT FROM THE ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS – BOSTON, MA, SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2014 – Recent studies have indicated that increased sodium chloride concentrations can induce pathogenic CD4+ Th17 cells in humans (Kleinewietfeld et al. Nature 2013;496:518-522; free full text at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746493/pdf/nihms500370.pdf). This effect is specific to Th17, with little or no effect on Th1 or Th2 differentiation or proliferation. Moreover, salt-induced Th17 cells demonstrate increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-alpha and IL-2. Read More

REPORT FROM THE ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS – BOSTON, MA, SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2014 – Numerous extension and long-term observational studies were presented at ACTRIMS/ECTRIMS 2014 for current disease-modifying therapies (DMT). The following is a summary by treatment. Read More