Sustained immunological effects of Glatiramer acetate in patients with multiple sclerosis treated for over 6 years

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Glatiramer Acetate in the context of multiple sclerosis in this clinical trial publication.

The availability of a group of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients at the University of Maryland, who had participated in the pivotal Copaxone trial in the early 1990s, provided an opportunity to examine the long-term immunologic effects of Glatiramer acetate (GA) treatment in MS.

Why It Was Studied

Forty-eight GA-reactive T-cell lines (TCL) were generated from 10 MS patients who have been receiving GA treatment for 6-9 years.

Proliferative responses, cytokine production, and cross-reactivity with myelin basic protein (MBP) and the MBP immunodominant peptide 83-99 were compared to responses obtained from 10 MS patients who were tested pretreatment and after a shorter period of treatment ranging from 1 to 10 months.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 10 patients taking part.

What Was Measured

Proliferative responses, cytokine production, and cross-reactivity with myelin basic protein (MBP) and the MBP immunodominant peptide 83-99 were compared to responses obtained from 10 MS patients who were tested pretreatment and after a shorter period of treatment ranging from 1 to 10 months.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Biomarkers, Cross Reactions, Glatiramer Acetate, Immunophenotyping, Immunosuppressive Agents, Multiple Sclerosis and Myelin Basic Protein.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is a clinical trial of Glatiramer Acetate in 10 patients in people with multiple sclerosis.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2002 (Journal of the neurological sciences), a journal based in Netherlands.

More context: the Glatiramer Acetate compound page, Multiple sclerosis research.