NCT03315923

Comparison of Clinical Effects of Rituximab and Glatiramer Acetate in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Comparison of Expanded Disability Status Scale, Gad-enhanced Brain Lesions, Annualized Relapse Rate, and Side Effects Between Active Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Patients on Rituximab and Glatiramer Acetate

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2 / Phase 3
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 84 (actual)
• Sponsor: Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 55 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to compare expanded disability status scale, annualized relapse rate, Gad-enhanced brain lesions, and side effects after administration of rituximab and glatiramer acetate among patients with active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis during a one year follow up through a randomized clinical trial.

Detailed description

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune inflammatory demyelinative disease of central nervous system. Active secondary progressive MS means progressive accumulation of disability after an initial relapsing course which is also associated with clinical relapses and/or new/enlarged Gad-enhanced brain lesions. This form of the disease leads to high rates of morbidity and mortality among patients. Different immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory agents are recommended by researchers to decrease relapses and improve disability among MS patients. The effect of these medications on different phenotypes of MS are mostly investigated solely and very small number of comparative studies are conducted to evaluate the superiority of these medications on each other. Glatiramer acetate is one of the known MS medications which is being used to control relapses from a long time ago and different clinical trials have shown its partial efficacy among MS patients. On the other hand, rituximab is one of the medications which is recently suggested for treatment of MS and currently phase II clinical trials are conducted to evaluate the efficacy of this medication among patients. As previously stated, there is a lack of clinical trials to compare the efficacy of suggested medications among secondary progressive patients. To fill this gap, we aimed to compare the efficacy of these two medications on disability, annualized relapse rate, and Gad-enhanced brain lesions among patients with active secondary progressive MS through a randomized clinical trial during a one-year follow-up period.

Conditions

• Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Rituximab	Patients will receive 1 g of rituximab (two vials of Zytux 500 mg/50 ml) in 500 cc normal saline serum through intravenous infusion as one treatment cycle. This cycle will be repeated every 6 months. Along with rituximab, patients will receive 100 mg of methylprednisolone, 10 mg of chlorpheniramine, and 500 mg of acetaminophen. Before each cycle, patients will be evaluated regarding complete blood count (CBC)-diff, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), Cr, and liver function tests.
DRUG	Glatiramer Acetate	Patients will receive 40 mg of glatiramer acetate three times per week through subcutaneous injection. Patients will undergo electrocardiography before starting the treatment to find any abnormal finding. Also, lab tests will be checked for them prior to the treatment, including CBC-diff, BUN, Cr, and liver function tests.

Timeline

• Start date: 2017-12-01
• Primary completion: 2019-02-01
• Completion: 2019-03-01
• First posted: 2017-10-20
• Last updated: 2019-05-23

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Iran