Spasticity improvement in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis switching from interferon-β to glatiramer acetate: The Escala Study

Meca-Lallana, Virginia; Balseiro, J; Lacruz, Francisco Agramunt; Guijarro, Cristina; Sánchez, Oscar Ramos; Cano, Antonio; Costa‐Frossard, Lucienne; Hernández-Clares, R.; Rosa, Rainel Sánchez-de la

doi:10.1016/j.jns.2011.11.010

Cited by 10 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…GA was not associated with psychiatric or mood disorders and in some studies a significant improvement in fatigue was observed, even in patients switching from other DMTs [78]. In a study of patients with RRMS and spasticity, switching from IFN-β to GA improved spasm frequency, muscle tone and pain after 3 months of treatment; these improvements were maintained over 6 months of treatment with GA [95]. A few cases of hepatotoxicity during treatment with GA have recently been reported [96][97][98], with no such cases reported in clinical trials, hence it is unclear at present if liver function monitoring is warranted.…”

Section: Safetymentioning

confidence: 99%

The heritage of glatiramer acetate and its use in multiple sclerosis

Comı

Amato

Bertolotto

et al. 2016

Mult Scler Demyelinating Disord

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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and progressively debilitating disease of the central nervous system. Treatment of MS involves disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) to reduce the incidence of relapses and prevent disease progression. Glatiramer acetate (Copaxone®) was the first of the currently approved DMTs to be tested in human subjects, and it is still considered a standard choice for first-line treatment. The mechanism of action of glatiramer acetate appears to be relatively complex and has not been completely elucidated, but it is likely that it involves both immunomodulating and neuroprotective properties. The efficacy of glatiramer acetate 20 mg/mL once daily as first-line treatment in relapsingremitting MS is well established, with ample evidence of efficacy from both placebo-controlled and active-comparator controlled clinical trials as well as real-world studies. There is also a considerable body of evidence indicating that the efficacy of glatiramer acetate is maintained in the long term. Clinical trial and real-world data have also consistently shown glatiramer acetate to be safe and well tolerated. Notably, glatiramer acetate has a good safety profile in women planning a pregnancy, and is not associated with foetal toxicity. Until recently, glatiramer acetate was only approved as 20 mg/mL once daily, but a new formulation with less frequent administration, 40 mg/mL three times weekly, has been developed and is now approved in many countries, including Italy. This review examines the mechanism of action, clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability of glatiramer acetate to provide suggestions for optimizing the use of this drug in the current MS therapeutic scenario.

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Section: Safetymentioning

confidence: 99%

The heritage of glatiramer acetate and its use in multiple sclerosis

Comı

Amato

Bertolotto

et al. 2016

Mult Scler Demyelinating Disord

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“…2012). Three to six months after starting GA treatment, a significant reduction was observed in scores on all spasticity assessments used, including the PSFS, MAS, Adductor Tone Rating Scale, and GPS (Table 1993).…”

Section: Glatiramer Acetatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…2008), and may be a consequence of the improvement seen in spasticity, given that the number of patients reporting absenteeism due to disability was decreased (Meca-Lallana et al. 2012). …”

Section: Glatiramer Acetatementioning

confidence: 99%

Spasticity in multiple sclerosis and role of glatiramer acetate treatment

2015

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IntroductionSpasticity is one of the most disabling and difficult-to-treat symptoms shown by patients with multiple sclerosis, who often show a suboptimal and unsatisfactory response to classic treatment and new available nonpharmacological alternatives. Due to the progressive nature of this condition, the early management should be essential to improve long-term outcomes.MethodsWe performed a narrative literature review of the contribution of spasticity to the burden of multiple sclerosis and the potential role of classic disease-modifying drugs.ResultsAdded to the underlying pathophysiology of spasticity, certain external factors and drugs such as interferon may exacerbate the existing condition, hence their awareness is crucial as part of an effective management of spasticity. Furthermore, the evidence for the effectiveness of glatiramer acetate in preventing spasticity in naïve patients and in those switching from interferon should not be ignored.ConclusionsThis literature review proposes the examination of spasticity and the influence of classic disease-modifying agents on the level of existing condition among the variables to be considered when deciding on therapy for multiple sclerosis in clinical practice.

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“…Results have demonstrated that switching between injectable DMT is safe and will generally result in improved disease control [15,16]. Switching from a b-interferon to glatiramer acetate [17], particularly when persistent antibodies to b-interferon are present [18,19], can be associated with a significant reduction in relapse rates.…”

Section: Breakthrough Disease and Switching Therapymentioning

confidence: 99%