SynthesisPloS one2015
The effect of disease modifying therapies on brain atrophy in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Selective Brain Network and Cellular Responses Upon Dimethyl Fumarate Immunomodulation in Multiple Sclerosis.Frontiers in immunology · 2019Trial
- Immune-Related Gene Variants as Modifiers of Multiple Sclerosis Severity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Assessing the Early Economic Feasibility of a Curative Gene Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis Using a Risk-Adjusted Valuation Framework.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Interferon Beta-1a versus Glatiramer Acetate: Changes of Innate Immunity in a Group of Women with Multiple Sclerosis.European neurology · 2023Article
- Effects of Dimethyl Fumarate on Brain Atrophy in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Pooled Analysis Phase 3 DEFINE and CONFIRM Studies.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Brain atrophy and lesion burden are associated with disability progression in a multiple sclerosis real-world dataset using only T2-FLAIR: The NeuroSTREAM MSBase study.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2021Article
- Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Consensus Group (MSTCG): position statement on disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis (white paper).Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders · 2021Review
- Innate Immune System and Multiple Sclerosis. Granulocyte Numbers Are Reduced in Patients Affected by Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis during the Remission Phase.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
- Should We Use Clinical Tools to Identify Disease Progression?Frontiers in neurology · 2020Review
- Exercise as Medicine in Multiple Sclerosis-Time for a Paradigm Shift: Preventive, Symptomatic, and Disease-Modifying Aspects and Perspectives.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2019Review
- Article
- Comparing longitudinal brain atrophy measurement techniques in a real-world multiple sclerosis clinical practice cohort: towards clinical integration?Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders · 2019Article
- Brain Atrophy Is Associated with Disability Progression in Patients with MS followed in a Clinical Routine.AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2018Article
- Assessing Biological and Methodological Aspects of Brain Volume Loss in Multiple Sclerosis.JAMA neurology · 2018Article
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine · 2018Review
- Future Brain and Spinal Cord Volumetric Imaging in the Clinic for Monitoring Treatment Response in MS.Current treatment options in neurology · 2018Review
- Serum Compounds of Energy Metabolism Impairment Are Related to Disability, Disease Course and Neuroimaging in Multiple Sclerosis.Molecular neurobiology · 2017Article
- Automated segmentation of cerebral deep gray matter from MRI scans: effect of field strength on sensitivity and reliability.BMC neurology · 2017Article
- An Observational Study to Assess Brain MRI Change and Disease Progression in Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Practice-The MS-MRIUS Study.Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging · 2017Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of the present meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of disease-modifying drugs (DMD) on brain atrophy in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) using available randomized-controlled trial (RCT) data.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis according to PRISMA guidelines of all available RCTs of patients with RRMS that reported data on brain volume measurements during the study period.
resultsWe identified 4 eligible studies, including a total of 1819 RRMS patients (71% women, mean age 36.5 years, mean baseline EDSS-score: 2.4). The mean percentage change in brain volume was found to be significantly lower in DMD versus placebo subgroup (standardized mean difference: -0.19; 95%CI: -0.27--0.11; p<0.001). We detected no evidence of heterogeneity between estimates (I2 = 30%, p = 0.19) nor publication bias in the Funnel plots. Sensitivity analyses stratifying studies according to brain atrophy neuroimaging protocol disclosed no evidence of heterogeneity (p = 0.16). In meta-regression analyses, the percentage change in brain volume was found to be inversely related with duration of observation period in both DMD (meta-regression slope = -0.03; 95% CI: -0.04--0.02; p<0.001) and placebo subgroups (meta-regression slope = -0.05; 95% CI: -0.06--0.04; p<0.001). However, the rate of percentage brain volume loss over time was greater in placebo than in DMD subgroup (p = 0.017, ANCOVA).
conclusionsDMD appear to be effective in attenuating brain atrophy in comparison to placebo and their benefit in delaying the rate of brain volume loss increases linearly with longer treatment duration.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.