300,000+ clinical trials. Find the right one.

441 active trials for Multiple Sclerosis

US PROmyBETAapp2.0: A Study to Learn More About the Medication Usage and Patient Reported Outcomes Via the myBETAapp in Medical Care of Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Treated With BETASERON Using BETACONNECT Autoinjector

In this study researchers want to learn more about the medication usage behavior among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with BETASERON using the myBETAapp. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which the covering called "myelin" around the nerves of the central nervous system degenerate. MS is a lifelong disease therefore requiring continuous treatment to delay the disease progression and reduce the rate of relapse (the return of signs and symptoms of). BETASERON is an approved medicine used to reduce the relapse in patients with MS. It is injected into the tissue under the skin using BETACONNECT autoinjector, which automatically captures injection data including injection date, time, speed, and depth and uploads the data into paired myBETAapp. This allows patients to organize and track their progress and share the injection information with their physicians. The medication usage behavior to be collected in this study includes the elements to what extent taking medication matches the presciber's recommendation (adherence, compliance), treatment for the prescribed duration (persistence) is continued and injections were missed. Among MS patients treated with Betaferon using the myBETAapp the study will also collect information on the health-related quality of life , treatment satisfaction and satisfaction with treatment support.

Start: November 2020
Short-term B-cell Depletion in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

Several disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) have been shown to be effective in reducing the disease activity in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) but these treatments, often need to be used continuously for an unknown duration, rendering the long-term use extremely expensive. In addition, chronic administration of DMTs is often associated with undesirable side effects. Among these medications, B-cell depleting monoclonal antibodies might have the properties of an ideal group of medications: i) B-cell depleting antibodies have proven to be extremely potent in reducing or stopping the disease activity in relapsing MS, ii) B-cell depleting antibodies are very safe if used for a short period and use for a short duration may stop the inflammatory disease activity over long term, although current clinical practice and protocols are based on continuing B-cell depletion for an unknown period of time. Indeed, early phase clinical trials of rituximab and ocrelizumab suggested that a short course treatment with B-cell depleting antibodies can have long term effects and disease activity will not return even long after B-cell repopulation in the blood. This long-term effect might be related to the specific pattern of B-cell tolerance defect in patients with MS and the potential of its normalization with B-cell depleting antibodies. By analyzing the reactivity of recombinant antibodies expressed from single B-cells, the investigators' collaborators have demonstrated that the pattern of B-cell tolerance defect is different in people with MS who only display an impaired removal of developing autoreactive B-cells in the periphery while central B-cell tolerance in the bone marrow is functional in most patients. In contrast, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), type-1 diabetes (T1D) or Sjögren's syndrome (SS) show defective central and peripheral B-cell tolerance checkpoints. As a consequence, while anti-B-cell therapy does not correct defective early B-cell tolerance checkpoints in T1D and only temporarily slows down autoimmune processes before newly generated autoreactive B-cells likely induce patient relapse, the investigators postulate that the efficacy of B-cell depleting antibodies in MS may be linked to the B-cell depleting antibodies' normal central B-cell tolerance and the production of a normal B-cell and T-cell compartment after anti-B-cell therapy. The investigators' goal is to provide proof-of-concept that a short duration of treatment with B-cell depleting antibodies can correct B-cell tolerance defects in MS and allow for medication-free prolonged freedom from disease activity, at least in a proportion of subjects with relapsing MS. In an open label study, 10 patients with active relapsing MS will be treated with two courses of ocrelizumab and will be followed clinically and radiologically for at least two and a half years. Time to the return of disease activity (defined as clinical relapses or new or enhancing lesions on the MRI) will be the primary outcome of the study. The investigators will harvest B-cells before starting the treatment and after B-cell repopulation and assess the central and peripheral tolerance defects. The investigators hypothesize that in most participants, the disease activity will not come back, and this prolonged response to anti cluster of differentiation 20 (CD-20) therapy is associated with normalization of B-cell tolerance defect in these patients. Considering the safety of this approach, it can be adopted widely among people with MS. Hence, the proposed B-cell analyses before and after B-cell depletion in people with MS will provide novel insights regarding the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effect of B-cell depleting antibodies and the potential long-term suppression of disease activity. This strategy can therefore improve the approach to treatment of many people with relapsing MS.

Start: April 2019
Sonification Techniques for Gait Training

Music therapy is widely used in relational and rehabilitation settings. In addition to Neurologic Music Therapy and other music-based techniques, "sonification" approaches were recently introduced in the field of rehabilitation. The "sonification" can be defined as a properly selected set of sonorous-music stimuli are associated with patient movements mapping. In fact, the auditory-motor feedback can replace damaged proprioceptive circuits with a consequent improvement of the rehabilitation process. Interventions with "sonification" facilitate sensorimotor learning, proprioception and movements planning and execution improving global motor parameters. This study proposes the use of musical auditory cues which includes the melodic-harmonic component of the music. This kind of sonification makes the feedback pleasant and predictable as well as potentially effective. The investigators propose to apply and assess the effectiveness of this kind of sonification on gait training and other secondary outcomes in stroke, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis population. Also, the investigators will assess the impact of "sonification" on the level of fatigue perceived during the rehabilitation process and on the quality of life. The study is a multicenter randomized controlled trial and will involve 120 patients that will undergo standard motor rehabilitation or the same rehabilitation but with the sonification support. The interventions will be evaluated at the baseline, after 10 sessions, after 20 sessions and at follow-up (one month after the end of the treatment). The assessment will include functional, motor, fatigue and quality of life evaluations. The collected data will be statistically processed.

Start: January 2021
EMDR for Depressed People With Multiple Sclerosis

Several studies have reported high rates of depression in people with MS. Depressive symptoms represent a serious threat to quality of life and well-being. Furthermore, findings from the literature suggest that mechanisms underneath depressive features and loss of physical functions in MS could be related. The current study aims at investigating the feasibility of a fairly new type of psychotherapy known as "eye movement desensitization and reprocessing" (EMDR) on depression in people with MS. The goal of this intervention is to reduce the long-lasting effects of distressing memories by developing more adaptive coping mechanisms, through bilateral sensory stimulation. Together with the study on clinical measures, brain mechanisms of change will be assessed with MRI. Fifteen depressed or mildly depressed people with MS will be recruited. Participants will be assessed for depression, and quality of life, before and after the intervention. Participants will also undergo an MRI for brain structural and functional assessments before and after the EMDR intervention. The main aim of the study is to verify that EMDR is a feasible psychotherapeutic approach for people with depression and MS and to collect preliminary data on the efficacy of this type of intervention in reducing the depressive symptoms and improving the quality of life. The study, however, will not be limited to the analysis of outcome differences. The use of MRI assessments, in fact, will allow to explore possible brain change modifications related to depression reduction and/or symptoms modifications.

Start: May 2021