Glatiramer acetate (Copaxone) treatment in relapsing-remitting MS - Quantitative MR assessment

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of glatiramer acetate (GA, Copaxone; Te va Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., Petah Tiqva, Israel) by MRI-based measu res in patients with relapsing-remitting (RR) MS. Methods: Twenty-seven pat ients with clinically definite PR-MS were treated with either 20 mg of GA b y daily subcutaneous self-injection (n = 14) or placebo (n = 13) for approx imately 24 months. Axial dual-echo fast-spin-echo T2-weighted images and T1 -weighted images before and after gadolinium (Gd) were acquired at 1.5 tesl a and transferred into an image processing computer system. The main outcom e measures were the number of Gd-enhanced T1 and T2 lesions and their volum e as well as brain parenchyma volume. Results: The values of age, disease d uration, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score, the number of T1- a nd T2-weighted lesions, and their volume were similar between GA- and place bo-receiving groups at the entry of this study. There was a decrease in the number of T1-enhanced lesions (p = 0.03) and a significant percent annual decrease of their volume in GA recipients compared with those of placebo re cipients. There were no significant differences between changes in the two groups in the number of T2 lesions and their volume. The loss of brain tiss ue was significantly smaller in the GA group compared with that of the plac ebo group. Conclusions: These results show that GA treatment may decrease b oth lesion inflammation and the rate of brain atrophy in PR-MS.