Efficacy and Safety of Teriflunomide in Chinese Patients with Relapsing Forms of Multiple Sclerosis: A Subgroup Analysis of the Phase 3 TOWER Study / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

Background@#Disease-modifying therapy is the standard treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in remission. The primary objective of the current analysis was to assess the efficacy and safety of two teriflunomide doses (7 mg and 14 mg) in the subgroup of Chinese patients with relapsing MS included in the TOWER study.@*Methods@#TOWER was a multicenter, multinational, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group (three groups), placebo-controlled study. This subgroup analysis includes 148 Chinese patients randomized to receive either teriflunomide 7 mg (n = 51), teriflunomide 14 mg (n = 43), or placebo (n = 54).@*Results@#Of the 148 patients in the intent-to-treat population, adjusted annualized relapse rates were 0.63 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.44, 0.92) in the placebo group, 0.48 (95% CI: 0.33, 0.70) in the teriflunomide 7 mg group, and 0.18 (95% CI: 0.09, 0.36) in the teriflunomide 14 mg group; this corresponded to a significant relative risk reduction in the teriflunomide 14 mg group versus placebo (-71.2%, P = 0.0012). Teriflunomide 14 mg also tended to reduce 12-week confirmed disability worsening by 68.1% compared with placebo (hazard ratio: 0.319, P = 0.1194). There were no differences across all treatment groups in the proportion of patients with treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs; 72.2% in the placebo group, 74.5% in the teriflunomide 7 mg group, and 69.8% in the teriflunomide 14 mg group); corresponding proportions for serious adverse events were 11.1%, 3.9%, and 11.6%, respectively. The most frequently reported TEAEs with teriflunomide versus placebo were neutropenia, increased alanine aminotransferase, and hair thinning.@*Conclusions@#Teriflunomide was as effective and safe in the Chinese subpopulation as it was in the overall population of patients in the TOWER trial. Teriflunomide has the potential to meet unmet medical needs for MS patients in China.@*Trial Registration@#ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00751881; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00751881?term=NCT00751881&rank=1.

Long Non-coding RNA Act as Regulators of Autophagy in Disease Treatment / 中国医学科学院学报

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) refer to transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides that have a low coding potential. Autophagy,a unique life phenomenon of eukaryotic cells,removes excess or damaged organelles during cell growth and development and plays a key role in maintaining homeostasis. As a key regulator of cellular metabolism,lncRNA are involved in disease treatment by regulating autophagy. This article summarizes the role of lncRNA in the treatment of cancer,cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases,neurodegenerative diseases,and bacterial infections and analyzes the molecular mechanisms of lncRNA in regulating autophagy,along with prospects of its applications in other areas.

Clinical Features of Opticospinal Multiple Sclerosis:19 Cases Report / 中国康复理论与实践

@#ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical features of 19 patients with opticospinal multiple sclerosis(OSMS).Methods19 cases with OSMS according to Kira Criteria were collected(15 women).Their clinical features were analyzed in combination with the laboratory examination.Results and ConclusionThere was no significant difference in the aspects of age of onset,disease duration,initial symptoms,MRI finding,evoked potential,immunological test of cerebrospinal fluid(CSF),between literatures reported elsewhere and ours. However,in our study,the OSMS patients did not show CSF pleocytosis associated with a decreased protein levels.The proportion of OSMS in all the types of MS seemed to be lower(18.66%).