Clinical Data Associated With the Therapeutic Response to Glatiramer Acetate in Multiple Sclerosis Patients
Multiple sclerosis is a demyelinating and neurodegenerative disease
of the central nervous system that affects a high
number of patients in the western world and represents the 2nd
cause of disability in young people of these countries.
Its causes are not completely understood, but it is accepted that it has a multifactorial origin,
with environmental and genetic factors playing a role and then autoimmune and
neurodegenerative mechanisms against the myelin sheath.
Over the last years, we are witnessing a great progress in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Currently there are 10 therapies approved for this disease, and this number is going
to increase in the near future with other several drugs in the last
stages of their clinical trials, making more difficult to choose the
best treatment for each individual patient.
According to different criteria, between 20 to 50% of
the patients with MS treated with the classical disease modify
treatments will have an incomplete response,4-6 and will
need a change in their therapy.
In this scenario, it is becoming more important to develop tools that allow an earlier prediction
of the clinical response, and improve the therapeutic election,
by avoiding therapeutic failures of first-line treatments or
unnecessary risks from more aggressive drugs.
The glatiramer acetate is a classic immunomodulator which consists
of a mix of oligopeptides of 4 amino-acids
that resembles the myelin basic protein and with a well documented efficacy
and tolerability both at short and longterm.
Recently it has been approved a new formulation of 40
mg which is given with subcutaneous injections 3-times weekly,
instead the previous 20 mg once-daily, with the same efficacy
and safety profile.
Neuro Open J. 2016; 3(1): 3-8. doi: 10.17140/NOJ-3-121
