According to a story from Multiple Sclerosis News Today, a recent case report suggests that switching from the immunotherapy drug Gilenya to another immunotherapy called Lemtrada could cause a severe exacerbation of symptoms for multiple sclerosis patients. This unexpected situation calls into question the conventional approach to treating this disease, which may involve the use of multiple immunotherapies.
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the myelin sheath, an insulating coating that protects neurons, is damaged. Without an intact myelin sheath, it becomes more difficult for neurons to send signals to each other. The exact cause of the disease is not well understood, but there are several risk factors, such as smoking, certain genetic variants, geography, and viral infections. Symptoms of multiple sclerosis can vary substantially in severity, but may include loss of coordination, trouble speaking and swallowing, sensation issues, pain, numbness, depression, blurred vision, double vision, incontinence, blindness in one eye, and muscle weakness. The disease can appear in a slow paced, progressive form, or in a relapsing-remitting form in which episodes of symptoms are separated by periods without them. There are a variety of medications for treating the disease, but they sometimes carry severe side effects and some patients turn to alternative medicine. To learn more about multiple sclerosis, click here.
About the Case
In the case, a 48 year old woman with multiple sclerosis was receiving treatment that included Gilenya, but the approach was not working well for her; she experienced eight relapses over the course of a decade. Her poor response to treatment prompted caregivers to begin the switch from Gilenya to Lemtrada, and after a five week period without taking Gilenya, she began taking the new drug.
Almost immediately the patient began to complain about bowel control and nerve pain; however, doctors could not detect any clinical abnormalities at that juncture. Two weeks later, serious symptoms, such as ataxia, muscle weakness, involuntary eye movements, declining balance, and worsening bowel control, appeared suddenly. She recovered after a course of antibodies, but her disease was still active half a year after starting Lemtrada.
What Happened?
An exact explanation is still unclear, but researchers suggest that the event may have occurred because both drugs apparently failed to control the disease in the central nervous system. Ultimately, more study may be warranted to understand the possible effects of taking these drugs in sequence and how they could impact the immune system.
Check out the original report here.
