Pachner Andrew R, Narayan Kavitha, Pak Elena
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
Neurology. 2006 Feb 14;66(3):444-6. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000196467.71646.72.
Some interferon beta (IFNbeta)-treated patients with multiple sclerosis develop antibody-mediated decreased bioactivity with resultant loss of therapeutic effect. The authors developed real-time multiplex reverse transcriptase PCR to measure expression of three IFNbeta-inducible genes to directly assess IFNbeta bioactivity in patients with neutralizing antibodies (NAbs). The three genes responded in tandem. Correlation of NAb level with bioactivity at low/moderate NAb levels was poor, indicating that for such patients, direct measurement of IFNbeta bioactivity is most reliable.
