Benificial effect of simvastatin 80 mg/d over two years in 140 secondary-progressive MS patients on disease progression and brain atrophy measures but no effect on relapse rate or T2 lesion Atorvastatin and Interferon in Multiple Sclerosis Events N Atorvastatin/Interferon-beta-1b Interferon-beta-1b 7 Total number of adverse events Adverse events by number of subjects Overall adverse event Subjects with any AE any serious AE any severe AE any AE related to study drug any AE leading to discontinuation of study drug Reported AE by number of subjects General disorders and administration site conditions Influenza like illness Pyrexia Infections and infestations Nasopharyngitis Injury, poisoning and procedural complications Foot fracture Joint sprain Investigations Hepatic enzyme increased Metabolism and nutrition disorders Hypercholesterolaemia Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders Arthralgia Bursitis Nervous system disorders Headache Mononeuropathy Multiple slcerosis relapse Tension headache Vascular disorders Hypertension AE: adverse event; N: number. doi:10.1371/MedChemExpress 79831-76-8 journal.pone.0086663.t004 7 15 12 7 0 0 2 0 7 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 6 2 0 6 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 4 0 1 2 1 1 1 activity. These results indicate a possible positive effect of statins as monotherapy in MS. The latter study additionally emphasises a predominatly neuroprotective effect of 1655472 statins in MS. This of course needs further investigation of statins in MS alone or in comination with other MS therapeutics. There are limitations of the SWABIMS Extension Study. The number of patients was low due to the mentioned loss of patients caused by a safety analysis. Despite of the reduced statistical power, the results of the study still give meaningful informations with regard to the efficacy and safety of statins added to IFNB in the treatment of MS over a period of 24 month. Furthermore, it was not placebo-controlled because at the time of study planning and initiation an identical placebo was not available. We therefore chose a prospective randomized rater-blinded end-point study design. Nevertheless, the evaluating clinicians and neuroradiologists assessing MR endpoints were blinded. Another limitation might be the dose of atorvastatin. In vascular disease higher doses of atorvastatin are more effective than lower doses. However, the optimal immunomodulatory dosage is unknown and it is not certain that higher doses yield higher efficacy. Therefore and for safety reasons we chose a daily dose of 40 mg atorvastatin. Conclusions In conclusion, atorvastatin 40 mg/d in addition to IFNB-1b did not have any beneficial effects on RRMS compared to IFNB-1b monotherapy over a period of 24 months. There is actually no evidence to support the use of atorvastatin 40 mg/d as an adjunctive therapy to IFNB in RRMS. The combination therapy was well tolerated and safe without the occurance of severe or unexpected side effects. 9 Atorvastatin and Interferon in Multiple Sclerosis Supporting Information Checklist S1 CONSORT Checklist. Protocol S1 Trial Protocol. Acknowledgments SWABIMS Study Group: Barbara Rieder1, Maaike Gafner1, Simon Jung1, Stefan Kipfer1, Stefan Wolff1, Martin Zbinden2, Claus Kiefer2, Ferdinand von Bredow2, Roland Wiest2, Gerhard Schroth2, Manuela Leichtle3, Barbara Kieser3; Michele Alfaro4, Marianne Braunschweig4, Petra Stellmes5, Thomas Treumann5, Prisca Wicki5; Ludwig Schelosky6, Klaus-Wilhelm Stock6, Martina Nuding6 1 Department of Neurolog.
