Freedman Mark S
University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Department of Medicine , 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8L6 , Canada +1 613 737 8532 ; +1 613 737 8162 ;
Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2014 Aug;14(8):1207-14. doi: 10.1517/14712598.2014.924496. Epub 2014 Jun 26.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS. Evidence suggests that MS should be treated as early as possible in order to maximize the benefit of treatment.
This review details current understanding about the treatment of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). The pharmacological and clinical data on the use of subcutaneous (s.c.) interferon β-1a (IFN-β-1a) as a therapeutic option for RRMS are covered, with a focus on the importance of treating patients with MS as early as possible in the course of the disease, in order to delay permanent axonal damage that is responsible for the signs and symptoms of disease progression.
There is a wealth of data on the treatment of RRMS with s.c. IFN-β-1a indicating that patients treated during the early inflammatory stages of the disease have significantly improved short-term outcomes compared with patients who commence treatment late. It remains to be determined whether the short-term effects of early treatment will translate into long-lasting benefits, although it is hoped that ongoing research will help to answer this question.
多发性硬化症（MS）是一种中枢神经系统的炎性脱髓鞘疾病。有证据表明，MS应尽早治疗，以便使治疗效果最大化。
本综述详细阐述了目前对复发缓解型多发性硬化症（RRMS）治疗的认识。文中涵盖了皮下注射干扰素β-1a（IFN-β-1a）作为RRMS治疗选择的药理学和临床数据，重点强调了在疾病进程中尽早治疗MS患者的重要性，以延缓导致疾病进展体征和症状的永久性轴突损伤。
有大量关于皮下注射IFN-β-1a治疗RRMS的数据表明，与晚期开始治疗的患者相比，在疾病早期炎症阶段接受治疗的患者短期预后有显著改善。早期治疗的短期效果是否会转化为长期益处仍有待确定，不过希望正在进行的研究将有助于回答这个问题。
