SAGE Journals Online
Advertisement
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Advertisement

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Multiple Sclerosis
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gray, O M
Right arrow Articles by Forbes, R B
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gray, O M
Right arrow Articles by Forbes, R B
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
*Compound via MeSH
*Substance via MeSH
Hazardous Substances DB
*METHOTREXATE
Medline Plus Health Information
*Multiple Sclerosis
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?

A systematic review of oral methotrexate for multiple sclerosis

O M Gray

Department of Neurology, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, Northern Ireland, orlagray{at}hotmail.com

G V McDonnell

Department of Neurology, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, Northern Ireland

R B Forbes

Department of Neurology, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, Northern Ireland

Oral methotrexate is a potent immunosuppressant, which could have a beneficial effect on relapse rates and delay disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). We performed a systematic review of all randomized controlled trials of oral methotrexate for MS. Of the two randomized controlled trials identified, one was excluded due to its allocation concealment and definition of a relapse and time to sustained disease progression. The other trial studied 60 participants with progressive MS only. This trial reported a non-significant reduction in sustained Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) progression and number of relapses in favour of methotrexate therapy. There were no data on relapse rate and no difference in time to first relapse. Minor side-effects were reported in both methotrexate (87.1%) and placebo groups (89.7%), but there were no major side-effects. Further trials are required in both relapsing-remitting and progressive groups to establish the role of oral methotrexate in MS.

Key Words: immunomodulatory drugs • multiple sclerosis • oral methotrexate • systematic review

Multiple Sclerosis, Vol. 12, No. 4, 507-510 (2006)
DOI: 10.1191/1352458506ms1299oa
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?




Advertisement