Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study in NMOSD.

Objective: To develop a resource of systematically collected, longitudinal clinical data and biospecimens for assisting in the investigation into neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment. Methods: To illustrate its research-enabling purpose, epidemiologic patterns and disease phenotypes were assessed among enrolled subjects, including age at disease onset, annualized relapse rate (ARR), and time between the first and second attacks. Results: As of December 2017, the Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study (CIRCLES) had enrolled more than 1,000 participants, of whom 77.5% of the NMOSD cases and 71.7% of the controls continue in active follow-up. Consanguineous relatives of patients with NMOSD represented 43.6% of the control cohort. Of the 599 active cases with complete data, 84% were female, and 76% were anti-AQP4 seropositive. The majority were white/Caucasian (52.6%), whereas blacks/African Americans accounted for 23.5%, Hispanics/Latinos 12.4%, and Asians accounted for 9.0%. The median age at disease onset was 38.4 years, with a median ARR of 0.5. Seropositive cases were older at disease onset, more likely to be black/African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more likely to be female. Conclusions: Collectively, the CIRCLES experience to date demonstrates this study to be a useful and readily accessible resource to facilitate accelerating solutions for patients with NMOSD.

Induction of disease remission with one cycle of alemtuzumab in relapsing-remitting MS.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate a single-course treatment with alemtuzumab in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients diagnosed with RRMS who were treated with alemtuzumab at our MS center and who had at least 12 month follow-up since the first dose. Data on radiological and clinical relapse were collected for the 2 years prior to patients' first dose of alemtuzumab and were tracked until the time of analysis. RESULTS: In the 2 years prior to first dose of alemtuzumab, 82.8% of the 29 patients had a new lesion on MRI and/or a clinical relapse, with an ARR of 0.67. In the mean 24.7 month follow-up after the first dose of alemtuzumab, 17.2% of patients displayed new disease activity and the ARR was 0.08. 4 out of 5 patients who relapsed did so within 12 month post-first infusion and received a second dose. Of the 24 patients who did not relapse, 8 received a second dose at 1 year and 16 did not. 5 out of all 29 patients developed thyroid disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Given that 96% of patients who did not relapse in the first 12 months following the initial dose of alemtuzumab remained relapse-free regardless of receiving a second course of drug, our data suggests that induction of disease remission for some patients might occur following just one dose of alemtuzumab. With further study, these data could support modification of the current therapy regimen.