With Current Non-selective DMT there is an infection risk

Treatments that block MS activity, can lead to infection


Wijnands JMA, Zhu F, Kingwell E, Fisk JD, Evans C, Marrie RA, Zhao Y, Tremlett H. Disease-modifying drugs for multiple sclerosis and infection risk: a cohort study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2018. pii: jnnp-2017-317493.

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) and infection risk in clinical practice. We examined the association between DMTs and infection-related medical encounters.
METHODS:Using population-based administrative data from British Columbia, Canada, we identified MS cases and followed them from their first demyelinating event (1996-2013) until emigration, death or study end (December 2013). Associations between DMT exposure (by DMT generation or class) and infection-related physician or hospital claims were assessed using recurrent time-to-events models, adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, index year and comorbidity count. 

RESULTS: Of 6793 MS cases, followed for 8.5 years (mean), 1716 (25.3%) were DMT exposed. Relative to no DMT, exposure to any first-generation DMT (beta-interferon or glatiramer acetate) was not associated with infection-related physician claims (aHR: 0.96; 95% CI 0.89 to 1.02). Exposure to any second-generation DMT (oral DMT or natalizumab) was associated with an increased hazard of an infection-related physician claim (aHR: 1.47; 95% CI 1.16 to 1.85); when assessed individually, the association was significant for natalizumab (aHR: 1.59; 95% CI 1.19 to 2.11) but not the oral DMTs (aHR: 1.17; 95% CI 0.88 to 1.56). While no DMTs were associated with infection-related hospital claims, these hospitalisations were also uncommon.
CONCLUSION: Exposure to first-generation DMTs was not associated with an altered infection risk. However, exposure to the second-generation DMTs was, with natalizumab associated with a 59% increased risk of an infection-related physician claim. Continued pharmacovigilance is warranted, including an investigation of the DMT-associated infection burden on patient outcomes.

You can't have you cake and eat it. This study looks at infection risk and use of a DMT and it says the weakly active DMT are not associated with the risk of infection,. In contrast the highly active DMT were associated with infections. 

The second line orals are not associated with infections but we they appear to be less active than natalizumab. If you are using an immunological sledge-hammer to crack a nut, you are targeting the immune system and putting holes in it, then if it is effective at doing that, it will be effective at blocking the  immune system that controls infection.

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