Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 1990;30(4):224-8.
doi: 10.1159/000117351.

Cyclosporine versus azathioprine in the treatment of multiple sclerosis: 12-month clinical and immunological evaluation

A J Steck  1 , F Regli, F Ochsner, G Gauthier
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Cyclosporine versus azathioprine in the treatment of multiple sclerosis: 12-month clinical and immunological evaluation

A J Steck et al. Eur Neurol. 1990.

Abstract

The aim of this trial was to compare the efficacy and tolerance of cyclosporine A (CYA) and azathioprine (AZA) as long-term immunosuppressive treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis. 31 randomly assigned patients completed a 12-month treatment with either CYA (5 mg/kg/day) or AZA (2 mg/kg/day). Evaluation included serial quantitative clinical assessments and circulating T cell markers. The CYA treatment group improved in only one of three scoring systems (p less than 0.05), while no difference was observed in the AZA group. CYA and AZA did not influence CD4+/CD8+ ratio of circulating T cells but affected HNK-1+ cells. The overall frequency of abnormal laboratory values were comparable in both groups. We conclude that CYA given in a low dose is relatively well tolerated but its benefits appear to be of limited value.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types