Hookworm Treatment for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Double-Blinded Placebo-Controlled Trial
| Autor: | Sonika Singh, Nanci Frakich, Colin Ranshaw, Timothy P. Jenkins, Christopher R. Tench, Cinzia Cantacessi, Cris S. Constantinescu, Bruno Gran, Nikos Evangelou, David I. Pritchard, Radu Tanasescu, David Onion, Gary Telford, Yasser Falah, Dorothee P. Auer |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Cantacessi, Cinzia [0000-0001-6863-2950], Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male medicine.medical_specialty Necator americanus Population Placebo-controlled study Placebo T-Lymphocytes Regulatory law.invention 03 medical and health sciences Hookworm Infections 0302 clinical medicine Multiple Sclerosis Relapsing-Remitting Randomized controlled trial Double-Blind Method law Internal medicine parasitic diseases Outcome Assessment Health Care medicine Clinical endpoint Animals Humans 030212 general & internal medicine education Hookworm infection education.field_of_study biology business.industry Middle Aged biology.organism_classification Magnetic Resonance Imaging Larva Female Neurology (clinical) business 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Popis: | Importance Studies suggest gut worms induce immune responses that can protect against multiple sclerosis (MS). To our knowledge, there are no controlled treatment trials with helminth in MS. Objective To determine whether hookworm treatment has effects on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity and T regulatory cells in relapsing MS. Design, Setting, and Participants This 9-month double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted between September 2012 and March 2016 in a modified intention-to-treat population (the data were analyzed June 2018) at the University of Nottingham, Queen’s Medical Centre, a single tertiary referral center. Patients aged 18 to 61 years with relapsing MS without disease-modifying treatment were recruited from the MS clinic. Seventy-three patients were screened; of these, 71 were recruited (2 ineligible/declined). Interventions Patients were randomized (1:1) to receive either 25Necator americanuslarvae transcutaneously or placebo. The MRI scans were performed monthly during months 3 to 9 and 3 months posttreatment. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary end point was the cumulative number of new/enlarging T2/new enhancing T1 lesions at month 9. The secondary end point was the percentage of cluster of differentiation (CD) 4+CD25highCD127negT regulatory cells in peripheral blood. Results Patients (mean [SD] age, 45 [9.5] years; 50 women [71%]) were randomized to receive hookworm (35 [49.3%]) or placebo (36 [50.7%]). Sixty-six patients (93.0%) completed the trial. The median cumulative numbers of new/enlarging/enhancing lesions were not significantly different between the groups by preplanned Mann-WhitneyUtests, which lose power with tied data (high number of zeroactivity MRIs in the hookworm group, 18/35 [51.4%] vs 10/36 [27.8%] in the placebo group). The percentage of CD4+CD25highCD127negT cells increased at month 9 in the hookworm group (hookworm, 32 [4.4%]; placebo, 34 [3.9%];P = .01). No patients withdrew because of adverse effects. There were no differences in adverse events between groups except more application-site skin discomfort in the hookworm group (82% vs 28%). There were 5 relapses (14.3%) in the hookworm group vs 11 (30.6%) receiving placebo. Conclusions and Relevance Treatment with hookworm was safe and well tolerated. The primary outcome did not reach significance, likely because of a low level of disease activity. Hookworm infection increased T regulatory cells, suggesting an immunobiological effect of hookworm. It appears that a living organism can precipitate immunoregulatory changes that may affect MS disease activity. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT01470521 |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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