UNLABELLED Since 1993 the Federal Drug Administration approved the use of immunomodulatory therapy in multiple sclerosis (MS), modifying the natural course of disease, as demonstrate our experience in treatment of MS patients at the MS Treatment Center (CATEM). OBJECTIVE To evaluate patient behavior using immunomodulatory therapy for a period of five years treatment. METHOD We selected 390 ...

BACKGROUND In the randomized study of interferon beta-1b (IFN beta-1b) for multiple sclerosis (MS), it has usually been evaluated the simple annual relapse rate as the study endpoint. This study aimed to investigate the performance of various regression models using information regarding the time to each recurrent event and considering the MS specific data generation process, and to estimate th...

BACKGROUND The ExtaviPro™ 30G autoinjector has been developed for self-administration of interferon beta-1b (Extavia®), which is used as a first-line, parenteral, disease-modifying therapy in multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this survey was to investigate patients' perceptions of the importance of different general attributes of autoinjectors, and patient preferences when comparing the Extav...

To verify the possible effect of IFN-beta treatment on auto antibodies development in multiple sclerosis (MS) we studied 69 MS patients before and during the treatment with IFN-beta 1b (n=35) and IFN-beta 1a (n=20) for 27 and 12 months respectively, and, as controls, 14 untreated MS patients. The serum, collected every 3 months from all the patients, was investigated for the presence of antinuc...

IMPORTANCE It remains unclear whether vitamin D insufficiency, which is common in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS), has an adverse effect on MS outcomes. OBJECTIVES To determine whether serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D), a marker of vitamin D status, predict disease activity and prognosis in patients with a first event suggestive of MS (clinically isolated syndrome...

OBJECTIVE To assess outcomes for patients treated with interferon beta-1b immediately after clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or after a short delay. METHODS Participants in BENEFIT (Betaferon/Betaseron in Newly Emerging MS for Initial Treatment) were randomly assigned to receive interferon beta-1b (early treatment) or placebo (delayed treatment). After conversion to clinically definite mult...

Georgios Hadjigeorgiou, Efthimios Dardiotis, Georgios Tsivgoulis, Triantafyllos Doskas, Damianos Petrou, Nikolaos Makris, Nikolaos Vlaikidis, Thomas Thomaidis, Athanasios Kyritsis, Nikolaos Fakas, Xoulietta Treska, Clementine Karageorgiou, Stefania Sotirli, Christos Giannoulis, Dimitra Papadimitriou, Ioannis Mylonas, Evaggelos Kouremenos, George S. Vlachos, Dimitrios Georgiopoulos, Despoina Mad...

The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), has infected and killed millions people worldwide. It substantially increased the burden on healthcare system. However, optimal approach to treatment COVID-19 is uncertain. “Off-label” use lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) interferons, particularly interferon beta (IFN-β),...

rIFN-beta reduces the frequency of the gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions in relapsing remitting (RR) MS. Its mechanism of action on improving the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) remains unclear. We investigated the effect of rIFN-beta-1b on the soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) serum levels (ELISA) in 36 RR MS patients receiving tre...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system which is accompanied by considerable disability and high costs. This report summarises the evidence on effectiveness and costs of beta-interferons and natalizumab in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.The review included systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials (with an observation time of at lea...