Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34228301›Full record

ReviewCNS drugs2021

Interferons and Multiple Sclerosis: Lessons from 25 Years of Clinical and Real-World Experience with Intramuscular Interferon Beta-1a (Avonex).

Stanley L Cohan, Barry A Hendin, Anthony T Reder, Kyle Smoot, Robin Avila, Jason P Mendoza, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in CNS drugs, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
37citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Innate immunity: current understandings and future perspectives.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Stanley L CohanProvidence Multiple Sclerosis Center, Providence Brain and Spine Institute, Portland, OR, USA.
Barry A HendinPhoenix Neurological Associates, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Anthony T RederDepartment of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Kyle SmootProvidence Multiple Sclerosis Center, Providence Brain and Spine Institute, Portland, OR, USA.
Robin AvilaBiogen, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Jason P MendozaBiogen, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Bianca Weinstock-GuttmanDepartment of Neurology, Jacobs Comprehensive MS Treatment and Research Center, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York, 1010 Main St., 2nd floor, Buffalo, NY, 14202, USA. bw8@buffalo.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6732-151X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Recombinant interferon (IFN) β-1b was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as the first disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1993. Since that time, clinical trials and real-world observational studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of IFN therapies. The pivotal intramuscular IFN β-1a phase III trial published in 1996 was the first to demonstrate that a DMT could reduce accumulation of sustained disability in MS. Patient adherence to treatment is higher with intramuscular IFN β-1a, given once weekly, than with subcutaneous formulations requiring multiple injections per week. Moreover, subcutaneous IFN β-1a is associated with an increased incidence of injection-site reactions and neutralizing antibodies compared with intramuscular administration. In recent years, revisions to MS diagnostic criteria have improved clinicians' ability to identify patients with MS and have promoted the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for diagnosis and disease monitoring. MRI studies show that treatment with IFN β-1a, relative to placebo, reduces T2 and gadolinium-enhancing lesions and gray matter atrophy. Since the approval of intramuscular IFN β-1a, a number of high-efficacy therapies have been approved for MS, though the benefit of these high-efficacy therapies should be balanced against the increased risk of serious adverse events associated with their long-term use. For some subpopulations of patients, including pregnant women, the safety profile of IFN β formulations may provide a particular benefit. In addition, the antiviral properties of IFNs may indicate potential therapeutic opportunities for IFN β in reducing the risk of viral infections such as COVID-19.

Indexed as

Adjuvants, ImmunologicAntiviral AgentsCOVID-19 Drug TreatmentHumansInjections, IntramuscularInterferon beta-1aMultiple SclerosisSARS-CoV-2Treatment OutcomeAdjuvants, ImmunologicAntiviral AgentsInterferon beta-1a

Identifiers

PMID34228301
PMCPMC8258741

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.