Every-other-day interferon beta-1b versus once-weekly interferon beta-1a for multiple sclerosis (INCOMIN Trial) II: analysis of MRI responses to treatment and correlation with Nab.
BACKGROUND
In RRMS, clinical exacerbations are usually associated with different types of active lesions at MRI, including: hyperintense lesions on T1-weighted post-gadolinium sequences; new hyperintense lesions or enlarging old lesions on PD/T2-weighted scans; or new hypointense lesions on T1-weighted pre-Gd sequences.


OBJECTIVE
Primary outcome was the occurrence of patients with at least one active MRI lesion of the different types indicated above during treatment with 250 microg every other day (EOD) interferon beta (IFNbeta)-1b or 30 microg once weekly (OW) IFNbeta-1a in outpatients with RRMS (INCOMIN Trial).


RESULTS
The number of patients with at least one 'active' lesion, evaluated over the two-year follow-up, was significantly (P = 0.014) lower in the EOD IFNbeta-1 b arm (1 3/76, 17%) then in the OW IFNbeta-1a arm (25/73, 34%). NAb frequency over two-year follow-up was 22/65 (33.8%) in the EOD IFNbeta-1b arm and 4/62 (6.5%) in the OW IFNbeta-1a arm, significantly greater in the EOD IFNbeta-1b arm.


CONCLUSIONS
The development of MRI active lesions is strongly reduced by EOD-IFNbeta-1b compared with OW-IFNbeta-1a, indicating that EOD-IFNbeta-1b is more effective than OW-IFNbeta-1a in reducing ongoing inflammation and demyelination in MS. Logistic regression showed that NAb status did not affect the risk of MRI activity.
Barbero
P
P
Clinica Neurologica I, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy. p.barbero@isiline.it
Bergui
M
M
Versino
E
E
Ricci
A
A
Zhong
J J
JJ
Ferrero
B
B
Clerico
M
M
Pipieri
A
A
Verdun
E
E
Giordano
L
L
Durelli
L
L
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D000917:Antibody Formation; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006801:Humans; D000068556:Interferon beta-1a; D000068576:Interferon beta-1b; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000906:Antibodies; D000068576:Interferon beta-1b; D016899:Interferon-beta; D000068556:Interferon beta-1a