Trial reportAnnals of clinical and translational neurology2021
Dynamics of pseudo-atrophy in RRMS reveals predominant gray matter compartmentalization.
Trial report in Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT00441103 (A Two-arm, Randomized, Double-blind, Control Group-compared, Multicenter, Phase IIIb Study With Monthly MRI and Biomarker Assessments to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Rebif® New Formulation), which is not on this map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
A Two-arm, Randomized, Double-blind, Control Group-compared, Multicenter, Phase IIIb Study With Monthly MRI and Biomarker Assessments to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Rebif® New Formulation (IFN Beta-1a) in Subjects With Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Natalizumab and Tyruko (natalizumab biosimilar) for treating highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis after at least one disease-modifying therapy: a systematic review and economic model.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Treatment effects of cladribine tablets on data-driven patterns of regional grey matter atrophy in multiple sclerosis.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2025Trial
- Reduction in grey matter atrophy in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis following treatment with cladribine tablets.European journal of neurology · 2023Trial
- Ocrelizumab-Induced Brain Volume Dynamics in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Microstructure-informed deep learning improves thalamic atrophy segmentation and clinical associations in multiple sclerosis and related neuroimmunological diseases.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2026Article
- High-Dose Pulse Glucocorticoid Treatment Prevents White Matter Spinal Cord Pseudoatrophy in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis.Annals of neurology · 2025Article
- Understanding Mechanisms of Whole Brain and Regional Grey Matter Atrophy in Children With MOGAD.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2025Article
- Real-world brain volumetry in multiple sclerosis: importance of methodological consistency and clinical relevance of gray matter atrophy.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Interactions of optic radiation lesions with retinal and brain atrophy in early multiple sclerosis.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2024Article
- Disease progression in the first 5 years of treatment in multiple sclerosis: Predictive value of early brain and lesion volume changes.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2024Article
- Serum glial fibrillary acidic protein in natalizumab-treated relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: An alternative to neurofilament light.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2023Article
- Dynamic evolution of brain structural patterns in liver transplantation recipients: a longitudinal study based on 3D convolutional neuronal network model.European radiology · 2023Article
- The spatio-temporal relationship between concurrent lesion and brain atrophy changes in early multiple sclerosis: A post-hoc analysis of the REFLEXION study.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2023Article
- Percentage brain volume change in multiple sclerosis mainly reflects white matter and cortical volume.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2023Article
- Neurofilament-light and contactin-1 association with long-term brain atrophy in natalizumab-treated relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2022Article
- Brain atrophy patterns in multiple sclerosis patients treated with natalizumab and its clinical correlates.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
- MRI Prognostic Factors in Multiple Sclerosis, Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder, and Myelin Oligodendrocyte Antibody Disease.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the dynamics of "pseudo-atrophy," the accelerated brain volume loss observed after initiation of anti-inflammatory therapies, in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
methodsMonthly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of patients from the IMPROVE clinical study (NCT00441103) comparing relapsing-remitting MS patients treated with interferon beta-1a (IFNβ-1a) for 40 weeks versus those receiving placebo (16 weeks) and then IFNβ-1a (24 weeks) were used to assess percentage of gray (PGMVC) and white matter (PWMVC) volume changes. Comparisons of PGMVC and PWMVC slopes were performed with a mixed effect linear model. In the IFNβ-1a-treated arm, a quadratic term was included in the model to evaluate the plateauing effect over 40 weeks.
resultsUp to week 16, PGMVC was -0.14% per month in the placebo and -0.27% per month in treated patients (P < 0.001). Over the same period, the decrease in PWMVC was -0.067% per month in the placebo and -0.116% per month in treated patients (P = 0.27). Similar changes were found in the group originally randomized to placebo when starting IFNβ-1a treatment (week 16-40, reliability analysis). In the originally treated group, over 40 weeks, the decrease in PGMVC showed a significant (P < 0.001) quadratic component, indicating a plateauing at week 20.
interpretationFindings reported here add new insights into the complex mechanisms of pseudo-atrophy and its relation to the compartmentalized inflammation occurring in the GM of MS patients. Ongoing and forthcoming clinical trials including MRI-derived GM volume loss as an outcome measure need to account for potentially significant GM volume changes as part of the initial treatment effect.
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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.