title: Low interferon gamma producers are better treatment responders: a two-year follow-up of interferon beta-treated multiple sclerosis patients.
abstract: As response to interferon beta (IFNB) treatment, a 50% reduction of the mean relapse rate compared to pretreatment values has been reported. However, individual responses vary considerably, ranging from no reduction in exacerbation frequency to complete suppression of relapses for at least two years. At the moment, valid predictors for IFNB response are lacking. Here we present a prospective evaluation of 33 patients with primary relapsing multiple sclerosis who were followed for two years of IFNB treatment A low interferon gamma (IFG) production before treatment predicted a two-year term without exacerbations in 68.8% of cases correctly, whereas a high pretreatment IFG production implied the risk of at least one relapse in the first two years in 70.6%. These preliminary results encourage further evaluation of IFG as predictor of an IFNB treatment response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, University of Cologne, Cologne 50924, Germany. hela.petereit@medizin.uni-koeln.de
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Petereit
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nolden
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schoppe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bamborschke
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pukrop
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Heiss
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000328:Adult; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D016899:Interferon-beta; D007371:Interferon-gamma