Gender Has No Effect on Interferon-Beta Response in MS

the Neurology Advisor take:

Gender does not seem to have an effect on response to interferon-beta treatment in men and women with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published in Acta Neurologica Scandinavica.

Researchers hypothesized that gender played a role in the relapse rate of patients with MS being treated with interferon-beta. They studied 2,033 patients treated with the therapy from 1996 to 2003, and determined neutralizing antibody (Nab)-positive and Nab-negative periods in each patient using Nab tests. Relapse rates were compared between NAb-postive and NAb-negative periods, with patients serving as their own controls.

Using relapse counts as the response variable, researchers found that NAbs had a strong influence in the on-treatment relapse rates in both sexes, but the rates did not differ between men and women. The women:men relapse rate ratio irrespective of NAb status was 1.47 (95%CI; 1.28–1.68).

The researchers concluded that there was no indication of differing effects of interferon-beta usage in men or women.