Drug Combo With Antibiotic May Slow MS Progression

Drug Combo With Antibiotic May Slow MS Progression
MONDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Combining an antibiotic with amedication currently used to treat multiple sclerosis may slow progressionof the disease, according to researchers at the Louisiana State HealthSciences Center in Shreveport.
Their study included 15 patients (average age 44.5) withrelapsing-remitting MS who'd been taking interferon for at least sixmonths and were experiencing symptoms and developing new brainlesions.
For four months, the patients took 100 milligrams daily of theantibiotic doxycycline in addition to their interferon therapy. During thestudy, they had monthly neurological examinations, MRI brain scans andblood work.
At the end of the four months, 60 percent of the patients had a morethan 25 percent reduction in the number of brain lesions. Patients alsohad lower disability scores. One patient relapsed. Side effects were mildand included only the known side effects of the two drugs individually,rather than side effects caused by combining the two medications, theresearchers said.
The study, funded by Biogen Idec Inc., was posted online Dec. 10 andwill be published in the February 2008 print issue of the Archives ofNeurology.
"There is a growing interest in combination therapy in patients with MSto stabilize the clinical course, reduce the rate of clinical relapses anddecelerate the progressive course of the underlying pathologic mechanism,"the study authors wrote. "Overall, data from this cohort suggest that thetreatment combination of oral doxycycline and interferon beta-1a may besafe and effective in some patients with MS; however, further controlledclinical trials are warranted to demonstrate safety and efficacy in alarger patient population."