Hydroxychloroquine may help treat primary progressive MS, says University of Calgary study

Calgary Canada January 17, ANI A University of Calgary study found promising results for the generic drug hydroxychloroquine when used to treat the evolution of disability of primary progressive multiple sclerosis MS the least treatable form of the autoimmune disease.

It is known that MS affects about 90,000 Canadians, with about 15 per cent of those diagnosed with primary progressive MS, one of the highest rates in the world.

The Cumming School of Medicine research teams led by Dr Marcus Koch, MD, PhD, and Dr Wee Yong, PhD, found that hydroxychloroquine helped slow the worsening of the disability during the 18 month study involving participants at the MS clinic in Calgary.

There is no good treatment for primary progressive MS. Koch, a clinician-investigator in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and a member of the Hotchkiss Brian Institute HBI Dr Yong's research team, has been screening a large number of generic drugs over the past several years, and the results show some promise, according to the results with hydroxychloroquine. Our trial is a preliminary success that needs further research. He said that they hope to inspire that work, particularly larger scale clinical trials into the future.

The single-arm phase II futility trial, which followed 35 people between November 2016 and June 2021, was known as a single-arm phase II futility trial. At least 40 per cent, or 14 participants, experienced a worsening of their walking function, but at the end of the trial, only eight participants had worsened. Hydroxychloroquine was generally well-tolerated.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malaria medication that is more commonly used to manage the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune conditions such as lupus. It was chosen because it was well-tolerated in rheumatological diseases.

According to research done in our lab on MS models, we predicted that hydroxychloroquine would reduce disability in people living with MS. Calgary has a vibrant bench-to-bedside MS program and the work from Dr Koch's trial offers more evidence that we were pleased with, said Yong, a professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and HBI member.