Immunoglobulin treatment of multiple sclerosis: future prospects

In one of the most frequent MS demyelination patterns, IgG and complement are demonstrable on myelin surface. It is, probably, an antibody-mediated pattern of myelin damage, usually associated with acute MS, but, at times, observed even in chronic cases. This pattern of myelin damage is extremely similar to that observed in acute demyelinating inflammatory polineuropathies, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, and in acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a rare demyelinating disease usually occurring after a viral infection or vaccination. These pathologies response well to IgG treatment. Although hyperacute severe cases of MS seem to respond well to IgG treatment, this does not seem the case for other cases of relapses in relapsing-remitting MS. Several trials failed to provide clear evidence of clinical and MRI efficacy of high-dose IgG parenteral treatment in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). The study of Confavreux and the PRIMS study showed that the relapse rate decreases significantly during pregnancy in MS patients, while increases after delivery. IgG is not a cytostatic drug and therefore it has been tested to see whether it reduces relapse occurrence after delivery. In pregnant MS patients treated with high dose, Haas' study and our experience noted a slight increase relapse rate during the six month after delivery but lower than that showed in Confavreux and PRIMS studies in untreated pregnant MS women.