Prediction of response to disease-modifying therapy in multiple sclerosis

Achoimre

Background Multiple sclerosis is an idiopathic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system and the second most common cause of disability in young adults. Choosing an effective treatment is crucial to preventing disability. Aim To identify predictors of disease-modifying therapy (DMT) after 1 year of treatment. Patients and methods In this retrospective study, 150 patients with confirmed diagnosis of relapsing-remittent multiple sclerosis were recruited from the MS Unit at the Neurology Departments from both Ain-Shams University and Cairo University Student Hospital. All of the study population received either interferons or fingolimod. Modified Rio score was used to classify patients to responders and nonresponders. In this study, 128 patients were found responders and 22 were found nonresponders. Results There was a significant difference between responders and nonresponders regarding age of the participants. The age was significantly older in responders compared with nonresponders (mean of 32.377.248 vs. 28.555.361 years, respectively; P=0.019). Sex was not a significant predictor of response to therapy. Regarding the Expended Disability Status Scale at the time of enrollment, it was significantly higher in nonresponders [median (interquartile range) of 2 (1–3)] compared with responders [median (interquartile range) of 1 (0–2.5)] (P=0.029). Both total number of relapses throughout the course of disease and number of relapses in the last year were significantly higher in nonresponders compared with responders (P