Read on below for our highlighted selection of recent papers from the scientific press for March 2022.
For our highlighted Covid-19-related papers and studies, please explore the Breaking News category on EANpages, here.
- COVID-19 Vaccine Response in People with Multiple Sclerosis
- CGRP-antibodies, topiramate and botulinum toxin type A in episodic and chronic migraine: A systematic review and meta-analysis
- Safety and Effectiveness of Long-term Intravenous Administration of Edaravone for Treatment of Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
COVID-19 Vaccine Response in People with Multiple Sclerosis
This study, conducted on almost 500 people with multiple sclerosis (MS), investigated the impact of disease modifying treatments on immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines. The authors found that only the treatment with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies and fingolimod was associated with lower seroconversion following the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine compared to people on no disease modifying therapy, while all other drugs did not differ significantly from the untreated cohort.
Tallantyre E , NVickaryous N, Anderson V, et al. COVID-19 Vaccine Response in People with Multiple Sclerosis. Ann Neurol 2022 Jan;91(1):89-100. doi: 10.1002/ana.26251. Epub 2021 Nov 17.
CGRP-antibodies, topiramate and botulinum toxin type A in episodic and chronic migraine: A systematic review and meta-analysis
In this interesting review and meta-analysis study, the authors aimed to provide a comparative overview of the efficacy of three commonly prescribed treatments to prevent migraine: CGRP-antibodies, topiramate and botulinum toxin A. The reports considered eligible for this review indicated that all these treatments show higher ORs in achieving a 50% response compared to placebo (i.e. the percentage of patients with a reduction of mean monthly migraines of at least 50% compared to baseline). Topiramate demonstrated the greatest effect size but also the highest drop-out rate, possibly suggesting that new therapies such as CGRP-antibodies are not more effective but more tolerable than older ones.
Frank F, Ulmer H, Sidoroff V, et al. CGRP-antibodies, topiramate and botulinum toxin type A in episodic and chronic migraine: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Cephalalgia. 2021 Oct;41(11-12):1222-1239. doi: 10.1177/03331024211018137. Epub 2021 Jun 15.
Safety and Effectiveness of Long-term Intravenous Administration of Edaravone for Treatment of Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
This multicenter, propensity score-matched cohort study investigated the long-term safety and effectiveness of intravenous edavarone, a molecule with neuroprotective effects demonstrated in animal models, in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). While the treatment with edavarone was overall well tolerated, the disease progression rate of the group of patients receiving edavarone in addition to standard therapy (riluzole) did not differ from that of the group treated with riluzole only, demonstrating no disease-modifying benefit of this molecule in patients with ALS.
Witzel S, Maier A, Steinbach R, et al. Safety and Effectiveness of Long-term Intravenous Administration of Edaravone for Treatment of Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. JAMA Neurol. 2022 Feb 1;79(2):121-130. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2021.4893.