Results from a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of repository corticotropin injection for multiple sclerosis relapse that did not adequately respond to corticosteroids

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at ACTH (Corticotropin) in the context of multiple sclerosis.

This was a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Why It Was Studied

Repository corticotropin injection (RCI, Acthar® Gel) is a naturally sourced complex mixture of adrenocorticotropic hormone analogs and pituitary peptides that has anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and multicenter study.

Because people in this ACTH (Corticotropin) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on ACTH (Corticotropin), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with ACTH (Corticotropin) could be set against what happens without it.

Running at several centres spread the ACTH (Corticotropin) study over different clinics and patient groups.

The timeline in the abstract includes 14 days.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Adrenal Cortex Hormones, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Chronic Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Recurrence.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Acthar Gel, clinical trial, relapse and repository corticotropin injection.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of ACTH (Corticotropin) in people with multiple sclerosis over 14 days.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2022 (CNS neuroscience & therapeutics), a journal based in England.

More context: the ACTH (Corticotropin) compound page, Multiple sclerosis research.