Active clinical trials for "Multiple Sclerosis"

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system characterised by multi-focal inflammatory and demyelinating lesions disseminated in the brain and in the spinal cord. Impressive advancements in the treatment of the autoimmune component of the disease have been achieved during the last decades, leading to a drastic reduction of white matter lesion accumulation and relapse rate along the disease course. However, the development of treatments effective for preventing or delaying the neurodegenerative component of the disease, that underly disability accrual and progression of the disease, remains a major challenge. The development of novel therapeutic strategies for neuroprotection that target all patients with MS is a priority objective for research in the next years. The critical steps towards identifying treatments that prevent neuro-axonal damage include a deep understanding of the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and the development of reliable biomarkers for assessing the efficacy of emerging drugs and for accelerating their translation to clinical use. The team of Prof. Stankoff has pioneered an innovative imaging approach combining positron emission tomography and MRI, and succeeded in generating individual maps or key biological processes such as endogenous remyelination, neuroinflammation, or early damage preceding lesion formation. Using these approaches, it has been shown that these mechanisms were influencing disability worsening over the disease course, but the investigators still lack long term longitudinal studies for the validation of these advanced imaging metrics as prognosis markers. Recently, preliminary results have also suggested that a multimodal combination of advanced MRI sequences may have the potential to reproduce some PET results. In this project the investigators propose to unravel the predictive value of individual maps of tremyelination, neuroinflammation, and early tissue damage, on long term disability worsening and to develop a novel imaging approach that aims to capture remyelination of lesions, ongoing inflammation invisible on T1 and T2 MRI sequences (subacute/chronic active lesions) and to predict short-term future disease activity (identify prelesional areas), from a single multimodal MRI acquisition in patients with MS.

The current project will fill a knowledge gap in the follow-up of people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with mild and moderate disability levels, with the purpose to assess the adequacy of measurement tools for trunk control and balance, functions that are pre-requisites for optimal performance in everyday physical activities.

Coordination is essential for the performance of most daily motor activities. Coordination problems are common in MS patients. One of the most commonly reported symptoms is dysmetria (limb ataxia). Ataxia is thought to occur in about 80% of MS patients. It leads to limitations in daily life activities. Aim of Study: to investigate the effect of life kinetik training on lower limb coordination in MS patients with ataxia.

There is a high percentage of impairment in the upper limbs (UL) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), being muscle strength and hand dexterity a determining factor for the preservation of functional activities, constituting the basis of independence and quality of life. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of a training protocol on UL muscle strength, through the NDS-Powerball® system, in combination with conventional physiotherapy, during 8 weeks in terms of muscle strength, coordination, fatigue, functionality and quality of life in people with MS.

Many neuropsychiatric abnormalities associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). These may be broadly divided into 2 categories: disorders of mood, affect,and behavior and abnormalities affecting cognition. With respect to the former, theepidemiology, phenomenology, and theories of etiology are described for the syndromes ofdepression, bipolar disorder, euphoria, pathological laughing and crying, and psychosisattributable to MS. Finally,treatment pertaining to all these disorders is reviewed, with the observation thattranslational research has been found wanting when it comes to providing algorithms toguide clinicians. Guidelines derived from general psychiatry still largely apply, althoughthey may not always be most effective in patients with neurologic disorders. The importance of future research addressing this imbalance is emphasized, forneuropsychiatric sequel add significantly to the morbidity associated with MS.(1) The evolution of the neuropsychiatry of multiple sclerosis(MS), with a set sequence of events unfoldingoverthecourseofacenturyormore,providesahistoricalparadigmforotherneurologicdisorders.Accordingtotheparadigm,aclinically astute neurologist, whom posterity will treat kindly,first describes the neurologic (and occasionally, the psycho-logical) signs and symptomsthat cometo define the disorder. Over succeeding decades, the diagnostic criteria arerefined by further observation supplemented by data fromnew technologies. Mental state changes either pass with littlenoticeoraremissed.Acoupleofgenerationslatercomes belated recognition of prominent abnormalities in mentation-neuropsychiatryredux. . Invariably, the data reveal major psychiatric problems integral to the disease, and then, with fewexceptions, clinical research stops. Few double-blind,placebo-controlled treatment trials in neuropsychiatry provide an evidence-based approach to treating the newly discernedbehaviouralabnormalities. ThelifetimeprevalenceofmajordepressioninMS isapproximately 50% (2). A meta-analysis suggests that this is higherthan in other neurologic disorders (3) and, depending on thereferencepoint,is3to10 timestherateinthegeneral population (4). While the basic phenomenology of the MS depressive syndrome overlaps with that found in primarydepression, certain symptoms are more typical, while othersoccur less commonly. Thus, irritability, discouragement, andasenseoffrustration aremorelikelytoaccompanylowmoodthan are feelings of guilt and poor self-esteem (5). It is alsoimportanttorememberthatsymptomssuchasinsomnia,poorappetite,anddifficultieswithconcentrationandmemorymaybe equally attributable to depression or to MS. Depression is an important reason for so many MS patients'thoughtsofself-harm:suicidalintentoccursinapproximately30% of MS patients and is linked to the presence and severityof depression and social isolation (

The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of dry needling (DN) in the treatment of spasticity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). [Participants and Methods] participants with MS, with no evidence of a relapse in the last four weeks and with an EDSS (Expanded Disability Sta- tus Scale) greater than 2.5 points (related with pyramidal score) were recruited. DN was performed in lower limbs for 12 consecutive sessions and evaluated with: EDSS (Pyramidal item), Time up and go (TUG), 25 foot, 9hold peg test (9HPT) and the improvement or not in the quality of life (MSQol54) was verified before and after treatment. A follow up visit was carried out to assess improvement.

Cognitive processing speed (CPS) impairment is prevalent, impactful, and poorly-managed in multiple sclerosis (MS). Upwards of 67% of patients present with MS-related CPS impairment, which is associated with poor everyday life outcomes. There are no FDA-approved pharmacological treatments for CPS impairment in MS. This landscape creates a critical public health and clinical crisis that underscores the importance of identifying efficacious approaches for managing CPS impairment in MS. We believe that aerobic exercise training represents a promising and powerful behavioral approach. This project involves a single-blind randomized controlled trial of 16-weeks of remotely-delivered and supported aerobic walking exercise training compared with an active control condition (remotely-delivered and supported stretching and toning activities) on CPS (assessed remotely) in 24 fully-ambulatory, but CPS-impaired persons with MS. This pilot trial will be conducted in a fully-remote fashion, such that there are no required in-person visits to Kessler Foundation. Participants (N=24) will initially undertake baseline assessments of CPS remotely via a HIPAA-compliant virtual platform (i.e., Zoom for Healthcare). This assessment will also serve as a screen for ensuring impaired CPS. At this virtual study visit, participants further will undergo a neuropsychological test of verbal learning and complete questionnaires assessing physical activity and MS symptoms via computer (REDCap). Following baseline, participants will be randomly assigned into the remotely-delivered and supported aerobic walking exercise training intervention condition (n=12) or remotely-delivered and supported attention and social contact control condition (n=12) using concealment. Both conditions will be administered remotely over 16-weeks via telerehabilitation by a postdoctoral behavior coach during scheduled calls. Participants will undertake aerobic walking exercise training or stretching-and-toning in the home/community. The exercise training intervention involves aerobic walking exercise training that is monitored by a waist-worn FitBit and follows prescriptive guidelines for aerobic exercise for persons with MS. The control condition involves stretching-and-toning based on a manual published by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Both conditions further involve one-on-one coaching, action-planning via calendars, logs for self-monitoring, and newsletters based on Social Cognitive Theory. After the 16-week exercise/control period, participants will undergo remote assessments of CPS and verbal learning (administered by a treatment-blinded assessor) as well as completion of questionnaires assessing physical activity and MS symptoms via REDCap. If successful, this RCT will provide preliminary data on the extent to which (a) remotely-delivered/supported aerobic walking ET results in significant CPS improvements in CPS-impaired persons with MS; and (b) the intervention results in increased physical activity relative to an active control in a cognitively-impaired cohort. These pilot data will be essential for supporting a large R01 application on a multi-site, effectiveness RCT in a nationwide sample of CPS-impaired persons with MS.

The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of line dancing on balance, anxiety, depression and quality of life for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS).

The primary aim of this project is to determine whether there are differences in access to, efficacy and tolerability of Ocrelizumab in men and women of different racial and ethnic origins and socio-economic backgrounds with RRMS and PPMS in two large academic MS Centers with a high volume of patients on Ocrelizumab. The study is a retrospective analysis of multiple sclerosis patients cared for at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Boston Medical Center who were treated with Ocrelizumab during the 4 year study period.

The main goal of multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment is to prevent further relapses of the disease and the progression of neurological deficit. Although MS cannot yet be cured, early control of symptoms and reduction of disease progression is associated with a longer time to disability and improve long-term treatment outcomes. Currently, MS is treated using a multidisciplinary approach, which consists of treatment with so-called "disease-modifying drugs" ("DMDs"), symptomatic therapy of individual symptoms, lifestyle adjustments, psychological support, and rehabilitation interventions. According to the latest results, treatment with "DMDs" can reduce the annual incidence of relapses by 29-68% compared to placebo or an active comparator. Thus, as can be seen, even this group of modern drugs does not completely compensate for MS in many patients. For this reason, there is a need to use certain parameters to best assess the effectiveness of individual treatments in specific patients with MS in routine clinical practice. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a specific method of clinical pharmacology that has long been used to monitor therapy for a variety of diseases by measuring drug concentrations in body fluids (plasma, serum, whole blood, cerebrospinal fluid, breast milk) with subsequent interpretation by clinical pharmacologist and acceptance by the clinician. The groups of drugs for which TDM is routinely performed include selected groups of antibiotics (aminoglycosides, vancomycin, beta-lactams), immunosuppressants, digoxin, and especially drugs used in neurology and psychiatry (antiepileptics and psychotropic drugs). As far as "DMDs" is concerned, the first data on the possibility of using TDM in the therapy of MS have already appeared in the professional literature, but these are so far rare and completely insufficient. In addition, individual drugs differ not only in efficacy but also in dose, dosing schedule, and safety profile. The development of new analytical methods to determine serum or whole blood "DMDs" concentrations, together with the objectification of the relationship between measured concentrations to the patient's clinical condition and the possibility of objectifying patient adherence to treatment, could therefore significantly help individualize the dosage of "DMDs" in each individual patient.