Abstract
This commentary discusses a study by van der Voort et al. that tested the diagnostic value of in vivo interferon β (IFN-β) bioactivity screening in identifying patients with multiple sclerosis who have developed neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) to IFN-β therapy—an event that limits the efficacy of the therapy. The in vivo assay used by the authors, which measures expression of the IFN-β-stimulated gene MxA (MX1) in the peripheral blood, indicated lack of a biological response in 19 of 23 patients with high-titer NAbs following injection of IFN-β. However, an abnormal response was also observed in 18 of 55 patients who had low-titer NAbs or were NAb negative. The authors concluded that in patients treated with IFN-β a single postinjection measurement of MxA messenger RNA expression is adequate to determine the IFN-β bioactivity status. While we believe that in vivo measurement of MxA messenger RNA following IFN-β injection is a reliable test by which to identify patients with inadequate response to IFN-β, the capacity of the test to predict treatment failure must be established in a well-designed, prospective trial.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Variability in detection and quantification of interferon β-1b–induced neutralizing antibodies
Journal of Neuroinflammation Open Access 15 June 2012
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Hemmer B et al. (2005) Immune response to immunotherapy: the role of neutralising antibodies to interferon β in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Lancet Neurol 4: 403–412
Sørensen PS et al. (2005) Guidelines on use of anti-IFN-β antibody measurements in multiple sclerosis: report of an EFNS Task Force on IFN-β antibodies in multiple sclerosis. Eur J Neurol 12: 817–827
Goodin DS et al. (2007) Neutralizing antibodies to interferon beta: assessment of their clinical and radiographic impact: an evidence report: report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology 68: 977–984
van der Voort LF et al. (2008) Interferon-β bioactivity measurement in multiple sclerosis: feasibility for routine clinical practice. Mult Scler [10.1177/1352458508096877]
Cunningham S et al. (2005) Pharmacogenomics of responsiveness to interferon IFN-β treatment in multiple sclerosis: a genetic screen of 100 type I interferon-inducible genes. Clin Pharmacol Ther 78: 635–646
Hoffmann S et al. (2008) HLA-DRB1*0401 and HLA-DRB1*0408 are strongly associated with the development of antibodies against interferon-β therapy in multiple sclerosis. Am J Hum Genet 83: 219–227
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors have acted as consultants for, and have received honoraria and grant or research support from, Bayer, Biogen and Merck Serono.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hemmer, B., Berthele, A. Should we measure the bioavailability of interferon β in vivo in patients with multiple sclerosis?. Nat Rev Neurol 5, 126–127 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneuro1042
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneuro1042
This article is cited by
-
Variability in detection and quantification of interferon β-1b–induced neutralizing antibodies
Journal of Neuroinflammation (2012)