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1. Real‐world experience with eculizumab and switching to ravulizumab for generalized myasthenia gravis

Author

Daiki Tokuyasu, Shigeaki Suzuki, Akiyuki Uzawa, Yuriko Nagane, Masayuki Masuda, Shingo Konno, Tomoya Kubota, Makoto Samukawa, Takamichi Sugimoto, Kei Ishizuchi, Munenori Oyama, Manato Yasuda, Hiroyuki Akamine, Yosuke Onishi, Yasushi Suzuki, Naoki Kawaguchi, Naoya Minami, Takashi Kimura, Masanori P. Takahashi, Hiroyuki Murai, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry, RC321-571, Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, RC346-429
Abstract

Abstract Objective Eculizumab and ravulizumab are complement protein C5 inhibitors, showing efficacy and tolerability for patients with anti‐acetylcholine receptor‐positive (AChR+) generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) in phase 3 clinical trials and subsequent analyses. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of eculizumab and switching to ravulizumab for refractory AChR+ gMG patients in the real‐world experience. Methods Among the database of Japan MG registry survey 2021, we studied AChR+ gMG patients who received eculizumab. We also evaluated these patients who switched from eculizumab to ravulizumab. Responder was defined as an improvement of at least 3 points in MG‐ADL. We performed a questionnaire of preference between eculizumab and ravulizumab. Results Among 1,106 patients with AChR+ gMG, 36 patients (3%) received eculizumab (female 78%, mean age 56.0 years). Eculizumab was preferentially used in severe and refractory MG patients. The duration of eculizumab treatment was 35 months on average. MG‐ADL improved from 9.4 ± 4.9 to 5.9 ± 5.1, and 25 (70%) of the 36 gMG patients were responders. Postintervention status was markedly improved after the eculizumab treatment. Of 13 patients who did not continue eculizumab, 6 showed insufficiencies. Early onset MG was most effective. However, 15 patients switching from eculizumab to ravulizumab kept favorable response and tolerability. Questionnaire surveys showed preference for ravulizumab over eculizumab. Interpretation Eculizumab and switching to ravulizumab showed to be effective for refractory AChR+ gMG patients in clinical settings.

Published
2024
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2. Taste disorders and alopecia in myasthenia gravis

Author

Akiyuki Uzawa, Shigeaki Suzuki, Satoshi Kuwabara, Hiroyuki Akamine, Yosuke Onishi, Manato Yasuda, Yukiko Ozawa, Naoki Kawaguchi, Tomoya Kubota, Masanori P. Takahashi, Yasushi Suzuki, Genya Watanabe, Takashi Kimura, Takamichi Sugimoto, Makoto Samukawa, Naoya Minami, Masayuki Masuda, Shingo Konno, Yuriko Nagane, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
Alopecia, Non-motor symptoms, Refractory, Taste disorders, Thymoma, Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, RC346-429
Abstract

Abstract Background Non-motor symptoms in myasthenia gravis (MG) are rarely confirmed. Although there are some small cohort studies, a large-systemic survey has not yet been performed. Methods We investigated the incidence and clinical characteristics of patients with MG who had taste disorders and alopecia using data of 1710 patients with MG enrolled in the Japan MG Registry 2021. Results Among them, 104 (6.1%) out of 1692 patients and 138 (8.2%) out of 1688 patients had histories of taste disorders and alopecia, respectively. Among the patients with MG, taste disorders were significantly more common in women, those with severe symptoms, refractory MG, or thymoma-associated MG, and were less common in those with ocular MG. The taste disorders often occurred after the onset of MG and often responded to MG treatments. Alopecia was more common in MG patients with a history of bulbar palsy and thymoma, and it often occurred before the onset of MG and sometimes responded to MG treatments. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed taste disturbance was associated with worst quantitative MG score and thymoma-associated MG; and alopecia was associated with thymoma-associated MG. Conclusion Clinicians should be aware of the non-motor symptoms in MG, especially in patients with severe myasthenic symptoms and thymoma-associated MG.

Published
2024
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3. Efficacy and safety of rozanolixizumab in patients with muscle-specific tyrosine kinase autoantibody-positive generalised myasthenia gravis: a subgroup analysis of the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, adaptive phase III MycarinG study

Author

Ali A. Habib, Sabrina Sacconi, Giovanni Antonini, Elena Cortés-Vicente, Julian Grosskreutz, Zabeen K. Mahuwala, Renato Mantegazza, Robert M. Pascuzzi, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, John Vissing, Tuan Vu, Heinz Wiendl, Marion Boehnlein, Bernhard Greve, Franz Woltering, and Vera Bril

Subjects
Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, RC346-429
Abstract

Background: Muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) autoantibody-positive (Ab+) generalised myasthenia gravis (gMG) is a rare and frequently severe subtype of gMG. Objectives: To assess the efficacy and safety of rozanolixizumab in the subgroup of patients with MuSK Ab+ gMG in the MycarinG study. Design: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III study. Methods: Patients with acetylcholine receptor (AChR) Ab+ or MuSK Ab+ gMG (aged ⩾18 years, Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Disease Class II–IVa, Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living [MG-‍ADL] score ⩾3.0 [non-ocular symptoms], Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis score ⩾11.0) were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive once-weekly subcutaneous infusions of rozanolixizumab 7 mg/kg, rozanolixizumab 10 mg/kg or placebo for 6 weeks, followed by an 8-week observation period. Randomisation was stratified by AChR and MuSK autoantibody status. The primary study endpoint was change from baseline to Day 43 in MG-ADL score. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were also assessed. Results: Overall, 200 patients were randomised, of whom 21 had MuSK Ab+ gMG and received rozanolixizumab 7 mg/kg ( n = 5), 10 mg/kg ( n = 8) or placebo ( n = 8). In patients with MuSK Ab+ gMG, reductions from baseline to Day 43 in MG-ADL scores were observed: rozanolixizumab 7 mg/kg least squares mean (LSM) change (standard error), –7.28 (1.94); 10 mg/kg, –4.16 (1.78); and placebo, 2.28 (1.95). Rozanolixizumab 7 mg/kg LSM difference from placebo was −9.56 (97.5% confidence interval: −15.25, −3.87); 10 mg/kg, −6.45 (−11.03, –1.86). TEAEs were experienced by four (80.0%), five (62.5%) and three (37.5%) patients with MuSK Ab+ gMG receiving rozanolixizumab 7 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg and placebo, respectively. No patients experienced serious TEAEs. No deaths occurred. Conclusion: This subgroup analysis of adult patients with MuSK Ab+ gMG enrolled in the MycarinG study supports the use of rozanolixizumab as an effective treatment option for patients with gMG who have MuSK autoantibodies. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03971422 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03971422 ); EU Clinical Trials Register: EudraCT 2019-000968-18 ( https://www.clinicaltrials‌register.eu/ctr-search/trial/2019-000968-18/GB ).

Published
2024
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4. Long-term safety and efficacy of zilucoplan in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis: interim analysis of the RAISE-XT open-label extension study

Author

James F. Howard, Saskia Bresch, Constantine Farmakidis, Miriam Freimer, Angela Genge, Channa Hewamadduma, John Hinton, Yessar Hussain, Raul Juntas-Morales, Henry J. Kaminski, Angelina Maniaol, Renato Mantegazza, Masayuki Masuda, Richard J. Nowak, Kumaraswamy Sivakumar, Marek Śmiłowski, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Tuan Vu, Michael D. Weiss, Małgorzata Zajda, Jos Bloemers, Babak Boroojerdi, Melissa Brock, Guillemette de la Borderie, Petra W. Duda, Mark Vanderkelen, and M. Isabel Leite

Subjects
Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, RC346-429
Abstract

Background: Generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) is a chronic, unpredictable disease associated with high treatment and disease burdens, with a need for more effective and well-tolerated treatments. Objectives: To evaluate the long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of zilucoplan in a mild-to-severe, acetylcholine receptor autoantibody-positive (AChR+) gMG population. Design: Ongoing, multicenter, phase III open-label extension (OLE) study. Methods: Eligible patients had completed a qualifying randomized, placebo-controlled phase II or phase III zilucoplan study and received daily, self-administered subcutaneous 0.3 mg/kg zilucoplan. The primary endpoint was incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs). Secondary efficacy endpoints included change from baseline in Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) score. Results: In total, 200 patients enrolled. At the cut-off date (8 September 2022), median (range) exposure to zilucoplan in RAISE-XT was 1.2 (0.11–4.45) years. Mean age at OLE baseline was 53.3 years. A total of 188 (94%) patients experienced a TEAE, with the most common being MG worsening ( n = 52, 26%) and COVID-19 ( n = 49, 25%). In patients who received zilucoplan 0.3 mg/kg in the parent study, further improvements in MG-ADL score continued through to Week 24 (least squares mean change [95% confidence interval] from double-blind baseline −6.06 [−7.09, −5.03]) and were sustained through to Week 60 (−6.04 [−7.21, −4.87]). In patients who switched from placebo in the parent study, rapid improvements in MG-ADL score were observed at the first week after switching to zilucoplan; further improvements were observed at Week 24, 12 weeks after switching (−6.46 [−8.19, −4.72]), and were sustained through to Week 60 (−6.51 [−8.37, −4.65]). Consistent results were observed in other efficacy endpoints. Conclusion: Zilucoplan demonstrated a favorable long-term safety profile, good tolerability, and sustained efficacy through to Week 60 with consistent benefits in a broad AChR+ gMG population. Additional long-term data will be available in future analyses. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04225871 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04225871 )

Published
2024
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5. Long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of efgartigimod (ADAPT+): interim results from a phase 3 open-label extension study in participants with generalized myasthenia gravis

Author

James F. Howard, Vera Bril, Tuan Vu, Chafic Karam, Stojan Peric, Jan L. De Bleecker, Hiroyuki Murai, Andreas Meisel, Said R. Beydoun, Mamatha Pasnoor, Antonio Guglietta, Benjamin Van Hoorick, Sophie Steeland, Caroline T’joen, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Jan Verschuuren, Renato Mantegazza, and the ADAPT+ Study Group

Subjects
efgartigimod, myasthenia gravis, neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn, IgG recycling, antibody fragment, Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, RC346-429
Abstract

ObjectiveADAPT+ assessed the long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of efgartigimod in adult participants with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG).MethodsADAPT+ was an open-label, single-arm, multicenter, up to 3-year extension of the pivotal phase 3 ADAPT study. Efgartigimod was administered in treatment cycles of 4 intravenous infusions (one 10 mg/kg infusion per week). Initiation of subsequent treatment cycles was individualized based on clinical evaluation. Safety endpoints included incidence and severity of adverse events. Efficacy endpoints assessed disease severity using Myasthenia Gravis-Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) and Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) scores.ResultsAs of January 2022, 151 participants had rolled over to ADAPT+ and 145 had received ≥1 dose of efgartigimod, of whom, 111 (76.6%) were AChR-Ab+ and 34 (23.4%) were AChR-Ab−. Mean study duration (treatment plus follow-up) was 548 days, and participants received up to 17 treatment cycles, corresponding to 217.6 participant-years of exposure. In the overall population, 123 (84.8%) participants reported ≥1 treatment-emergent adverse event; most frequent were headache (36 [24.8%]), COVID-19 (22 [15.2%]), and nasopharyngitis (20 [13.8%]). Clinically meaningful improvement (CMI) in mean MG-ADL and QMG scores was seen as early as 1 week following the first infusion across multiple cycles in AChR-Ab+ and AChR-Ab− participants. Maximal MG-ADL and QMG improvements aligned with onset and magnitude of total IgG and AChR-Ab reductions. For AChR-Ab+ participants at any time point in each of the first 10 treatment cycles, more than 90% had a maximum reduction of ≥2 points (CMI) in MG-ADL total score; across the 7 cycles in which QMG was measured, 69.4% to 91.3% of participants demonstrated a maximum reduction of ≥3 points (CMI) in QMG total score. Many participants demonstrated improvements well beyond CMI thresholds. In AChR-Ab+ participants with ≥1 year of combined follow-up between ADAPT and ADAPT+, mean number of annualized cycles was 4.7 per year (median [range] 5.0 [0.5–7.6]).ConclusionResults of ADAPT+ corroborate the substantial clinical improvements seen with efgartigimod in ADAPT and support its long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy, as well as an individualized dosing regimen for treatment of gMG.Clinical trial registrationhttps://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03770403, NCT03770403.

Published
2024
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6. Safety and effectiveness of eculizumab in Japanese patients with generalized myasthenia gravis: interim analysis of post-marketing surveillance

Author

Hiroyuki Murai, Shigeaki Suzuki, Miki Hasebe, Yuji Fukamizu, Ema Rodrigues, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, RC346-429
Abstract

Background: Eculizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody targeted to terminal complement protein C5, is approved in Japan for treatment of patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) whose symptoms are difficult to control with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy or plasmapheresis. Methods: This interim analysis of mandatory post-marketing surveillance in Japan assessed the safety and effectiveness of eculizumab at 26 weeks after treatment initiation in patients with AChR+ gMG. Results: Data were available for 40 adult patients in Japan [62.5% (25/40) female; mean age at eculizumab initiation, 51.0 years]. Fifteen patients had a history of thymoma. Six patients were excluded from the effectiveness analysis set due to participation in the open-label extension part of the phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled REGAIN study [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02301624]. After 26 weeks’ follow up, 32 patients (80%) were continuing eculizumab treatment. Adverse drug reactions were reported by seven patients [most frequently headache ( n = 3)]. One death was reported during eculizumab treatment (relationship unclear as determined by the treating physician) and there was one death 45 days after the last dose (considered unrelated). No meningococcal infections were reported. Mean (standard deviation) changes from baseline in Myasthenia Gravis-Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) and Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) scores were −3.7 (2.61) ( n = 27) and −5.6 (3.50) ( n = 26), respectively, at 12 weeks, and −4.3 (2.72) ( n = 26) and −5.6 (4.02) ( n = 24), respectively, at 26 weeks. Improvements in MG-ADL and QMG scores were generally similar in patients with/without a history of thymoma. Frequency of IVIg use decreased following eculizumab initiation. Conclusion: In a real-world setting, eculizumab was effective and well tolerated for the treatment of AChR+ gMG in adult Japanese patients whose disease was refractory to IVIg or plasmapheresis. These findings are consistent with the efficacy and safety results from the global phase III REGAIN study of eculizumab.

Published
2021
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7. Reappraisal of Oral Steroid Therapy for Myasthenia Gravis

Author

Tomihiro Imai, Shigeaki Suzuki, Yuriko Nagane, Akiyuki Uzawa, Hiroyuki Murai, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
myasthenia gravis, oral corticosteroids, treatment strategies, cross-sectional study, logistic regression analysis, Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, RC346-429
Abstract

Treatment with oral corticosteroids at high doses with an escalation and de-escalation schedule is effective against myasthena gravis (MG). In fact, the use of corticosteroids has led to a reduction in mortality to below 10% after the 1960s. However, long-term use of oral steroids above a certain dosage level is known to cause a number of problems. In 2014, the Japanese clinical guidelines for MG proposed that the first goal in MG treatment (treatment target) should be set at minimal manifestations (MM) with oral prednisolone (PSL) 5 mg/day or below, and that treatment strategies should strive to attain this level as rapidly as possible. In 2015, a multicenter, cross-sectional study revealed that higher PSL dose and longer PSL treatment do not ensure better outcome. In the absence of good response, the PSL dose should be decreased by combining with modalities such as plasma exchange/plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin (fast-acting treatments). In 2018, we conducted a multicenter, cross-sectional study in a large population of Japanese patients with generalized MG, aiming to elucidate the correlation between oral PSL regimens and achievement of treatment goals. The ORs for low vs. high dose to achieve treatment goals at 1, 2, and 3 years were 10.4, 2.75, and 1.86, respectively, whereas the corresponding ORs for low vs. medium dose were 13.4, 3.99, and 4.92. Early combination with fast-acting therapy (OR 2.19 at 2 years, 2.11 at 3 years) or combination with calcineurin inhibitors (OR 2.09 at 2 years, 2.36 at 3 years) were also positively associated with achieving treatment goals. These results indicate that early combination of low-dose PSL regimens with other therapies is the key for early achievement of treatment goals in generalized MG. However, even with this regimen, ~35% of patients did not achieve the treatment target after 3 years. These results suggest the limitation of the current oral corticosteroid therapy. We need to develop new treatment options to increase the rate of satisfactory outcome.

Published
2020
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8. Response to eculizumab in patients with myasthenia gravis recently treated with chronic IVIg: a subgroup analysis of REGAIN and its open-label extension study

Author

Saiju Jacob, Hiroyuki Murai, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Richard J. Nowak, Heinz Wiendl, Kenji P. Fujita, Fanny O’Brien, and James F. Howard

Subjects
Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, RC346-429
Abstract

Background: In the phase III eculizumab for refractory generalized myasthenia gravis REGAIN study [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01997229] and its open-label extension (OLE) [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02301624], patients with treatment-refractory antiacetylcholine receptor antibody-positive generalized myasthenia gravis had clinically meaningful improvements with eculizumab versus placebo. This subgroup analysis evaluated data from patients with a recent history of chronic intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) use before study entry. Methods: The subgroup comprised patients who had received IVIg at least four times in 1 year, with at least one IVIg treatment cycle during the 6 months before the first REGAIN study dose. Data from REGAIN and the OLE were analyzed. Response to eculizumab versus placebo was assessed using four validated, disease-specific measures. Incidences of exacerbations and safety endpoints were recorded. Results: The subgroup had similar patient and disease characteristics as the overall REGAIN population. Clinical assessments showed sustained eculizumab efficacy during REGAIN and the OLE over 18 months. Patients receiving placebo in REGAIN experienced rapid improvements in assessment scores when treated with eculizumab in the OLE. There was a lower rate of disease exacerbations with eculizumab than with placebo during REGAIN, and eculizumab was well tolerated. Conclusion: Eculizumab treatment, compared with placebo, results in meaningful clinical improvements and fewer disease exacerbations for patients who previously received chronic IVIg. Trial registration: REGAIN [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01997229]; REGAIN open-label extension [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02301624].

Published
2020
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9. Analysis of peripheral B cells and autoantibodies against the anti-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor derived from patients with myasthenia gravis using single-cell manipulation tools.

Author

Tomohiro Makino, Ryuichi Nakamura, Maki Terakawa, Satoshi Muneoka, Kazuhiro Nagahira, Yuriko Nagane, Jyoji Yamate, Masakatsu Motomura, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

The majority of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG), an organ-specific autoimmune disease, harbor autoantibodies that attack the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR-Abs) at the neuromuscular junction of skeletal muscles, resulting in muscle weakness. Single cell manipulation technologies coupled with genetic engineering are very powerful tools to examine T cell and B cell repertoires and the dynamics of adaptive immunity. These tools have been utilized to develop mAbs in parallel with hybridomas, phage display technologies and B-cell immortalization. By applying a single cell technology and novel high-throughput cell-based binding assays, we identified peripheral B cells that produce pathogenic nAChR-Abs in patients with MG. Although anti-nAChR antibodies produced by individual peripheral B cells generally exhibited low binding affinity for the α-subunit of the nAChR and great sequence diversity, a small fraction of these antibodies bound with high affinity to native-structured nAChRs on cell surfaces. B12L, one such Ab isolated here, competed with a rat Ab (mAb35) for binding to the human nAChR and thus considered to recognize the main immunogenic region (MIR). By evaluating the Ab in in vitro cell-based assays and an in vivo rat passive transfer model, B12L was found to act as a pathogenic Ab in rodents and presumably in humans.These findings suggest that B cells in peripheral blood may impact MG pathogenicity. Our methodology can be applied not only to validate pathogenic Abs as molecular target of MG treatment, but also to discover and analyze Ab production systems in other human diseases.

Published
2017
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10. Association between Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis and Myasthenia Gravis: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Author

Shingo Konno, Shigeaki Suzuki, Masayuki Masuda, Yuriko Nagane, Emiko Tsuda, Hiroyuki Murai, Tomihiro Imai, Toshiki Fujioka, Norihiro Suzuki, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

To investigate the association between glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis and myasthenia gravis (MG) using a cross-sectional survey in Japan.We studied 363 patients with MG (female 68%; mean age, 57 ± 16 years) who were followed at six Japanese centers between April and July 2012. We evaluated the clinical information of MG and fractures, bone markers, and radiological assessment. Quality of life was measured using an MG-specific battery, MG-QOL15.Glucocorticoids were administered in 283 (78%) of 363 MG patients. Eighteen (6%) of 283 MG patients treated with prednisolone had a history of osteoporotic fractures. The duration of glucocorticoid therapy, but not the dose of prednisolone, was associated with the osteoporotic fractures in MG patients. Bone mineral density was significantly decreased in the MG patients with fractures. The multivariate analyses showed that the total quantitative MG score was the only independent factor associated with osteoporotic fractures (OR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.02-1.67, p = 0.03). MG patients who had experienced fractures reported more severe difficulties in activities of daily living.Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis aggravates quality of life in patients with MG.

Published
2015
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11. Insights into the classification of myasthenia gravis.

Author

Tetsuya Akaishi, Takuhiro Yamaguchi, Yasushi Suzuki, Yuriko Nagane, Shigeaki Suzuki, Hiroyuki Murai, Tomihiro Imai, Masakatsu Motomura, Kazuo Fujihara, Masashi Aoki, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is often categorized into thymoma-associated MG, early-onset MG with onset age

Published
2014
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12. Three Types of Striational Antibodies in Myasthenia Gravis

Author

Shigeaki Suzuki, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Yuriko Nagane, and Norihiro Suzuki

Subjects
Immunologic diseases. Allergy, RC581-607
Abstract

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is caused by antibodies that react mainly with the acetylcholine receptor on the postsynaptic site of the neuromuscular junction. A wide range of clinical presentations and associated features allow MG to be classified into subtypes based on autoantibody status. Striational antibodies, which react with epitopes on the muscle proteins titin, ryanodine receptor (RyR), and Kv1.4, are frequently found in MG patients with late-onset and thymoma. Antititin and anti-RyR antibodies are determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or immunoblot. More recently, a method for the detection of anti-Kv1.4 autoantibodies has become available, involving 12–15% of all MG patients. The presence of striational antibodies is associated with more severe disease in all MG subgroups. Anti-Kv1.4 antibody is a useful marker for the potential development of lethal autoimmune myocarditis and response to calcineurin inhibitors. Detection of striational antibodies provides more specific and useful clinical information in MG patients.

Published
2011
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17. Safety and efficacy of zilucoplan in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis (RAISE): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study

Author

James F Howard, Saskia Bresch, Angela Genge, Channa Hewamadduma, John Hinton, Yessar Hussain, Raul Juntas-Morales, Henry J Kaminski, Angelina Maniaol, Renato Mantegazza, Masayuki Masuda, Kumaraswamy Sivakumar, Marek Śmiłowski, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Tuan Vu, Michael D Weiss, Małgorzata Zajda, Babak Boroojerdi, Melissa Brock, Guillemette de la Borderie, Petra W Duda, Romana Lowcock, Mark Vanderkelen, M Isabel Leite, Dylan Sembinelli, Jeanne Teitelbaum, Michael Nicolle, Emilien Bernard, Juliette Svahn, Marco Spinazzi, Tanya Stojkovic, Sophie Demeret, Nicolas Weiss, Loïc Le Guennec, Sihame Messai, Christine Tranchant, Aleksandra Nadaj-Pakleza, Jean-Baptiste Chanson, Muhtadi Suliman, Leila Zaidi, Celine Tard, Peggy Lecointe, Jana Zschüntzsch, Jens Schmidt, Stefanie Glaubitz, Rachel Zeng, Matthias Scholl, Markus Kowarik, Ulf Ziemann, Markus Krumbholz, Pascal Martin, Christoph Ruschil, Jutta Dünschede, Roswitha Kemmner, Natalie Rumpel, Benjamin Berger, Andreas Totzeck, Tim Hagenacker, Benjamin Stolte, Raffaele Iorio, Amelia Evoli, Silvia Falso, Carlo Antozzi, Rita Frangiamore, Fiammetta Vanoli, Elena Rinaldi, Kazushi Deguchi, Naoya Minami, Yuriko Nagane, Yasushi Suzuki, Sayaka Ishida, Shigeaki Suzuki, Jin Nakahara, Astushi Nagaoka, Shunsuke Yoshimura, Shingo Konno, Youko Tsuya, Akiyuki Uzawa, Tomoya Kubota, Masanori Takahashi, Tatsusada Okuno, Hiroyuki Murai, Nils Erik Gilhus, Marion Boldingh, Tone Hakvåg Rønning, Urszula Chyrchel-Paszkiewicz, Klaudiusz Kumor, Tomasz Zielinski, Krzysztof Banaszkiewicz, Michał Błaż, Agata Kłósek, Mariola Świderek-Matysiak, Andrzej Szczudlik, Aneta Paśko, Lech Szczechowski, Marta Banach, Jan Ilkowski, Solange Kapetanovic Garcia, Patricia Ortiz Bagan, Ana Belén Cánovas Segura, Joana Turon Sans, Nuria Vidal Fernandez, Elena Cortes Vicente, Patricia Rodrigo Armenteros, Mohammad Ashraghi, Ana Cavey, Liam Haslam, Anna Emery, Kore Liow, Sharon Yegiaian, Alexandru Barboi, Rosa Maria Vazquez, Joshua Lennon, Robert M Pascuzzi, Cynthia Bodkin, Sandra Guingrich, Adam Comer, Mark Bromberg, Teresa Janecki, Sami Saba, Marco Tellez, Bakri Elsheikh, Miriam Freimer, Sarah Heintzman, Raghav Govindarajan, Jeffrey Guptill, Janice M Massey, Vern Juel, Natalia Gonzalez, Ali A Habib, Tahseen Mozaffar, Manisha Korb, Namita Goyal, Hannah Machemehl, Georgios Manousakis, Jeffrey Allen, Emily Harper, Constantine Farmakidis, Lilli Saavedra, Mazen Dimachkie, Mamatha Pasnoor, Salma Akhter, Said Beydoun, Courtney McIlduff, Joan Nye, Bhaskar Roy, Bailey Munro Sheldon, Richard Nowak, Benjamin Barnes, Michael Rivner, Niraja Suresh, Jessica Shaw, Brittany Harvey, Lucy Lam, Nikki Thomas, Manisha Chopra, Rebecca E Traub, Sarah Jones, Mary Wagoner, Sejla Smajic, Radwa Aly, Jonathan Katz, Henry Chen, Robert G Miller, Liberty Jenkins, Shaida Khan, Bhupendra Khatri, Lisa Sershon, Pantelis Pavlakis, Shara Holzberg, Yuebing Li, Irys B Caristo, Robert Marquardt, Debbie Hastings, Jacob Rube, Robert P Lisak, Aparna Choudhury, Katherine Ruzhansky, Amit Sachdev, Susan Shin, Joan Bratton, Mary Fetter, Naya McKinnon, Jonathan McKinnon, Laura Sissons-Ross, Amos Sahu, and B Jane Distad

Subjects
Neurology (clinical)
Published
2023
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18. Safety and efficacy of rozanolixizumab in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis (MycarinG): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, adaptive phase 3 study

Author

Vera Bril, Artur Drużdż, Julian Grosskreutz, Ali A Habib, Renato Mantegazza, Sabrina Sacconi, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, John Vissing, Tuan Vu, Marion Boehnlein, Ali Bozorg, Maryam Gayfieva, Bernhard Greve, Franz Woltering, Henry J Kaminski, Angela Genge, Rami Massie, Maxime Berube, Lubna Daniyal, Shabber Mannan, Eduardo Ng, Ritesh Rohan Raghu Raman, Evelyn Sarpong, Monica Alcantara, Annie Dionne, Zaeem Siddiqi, Derrick Blackmore, Faraz Hussain, Genevieve Matte, Stephan Botez, Michaela Tyblova, Michala Jakubikova, Jana Junkerova, Nanna Witting, Sonja Holm-Yildiz, Mads Stemmerik, Henning Andersen, Izabella Obál, Guilhem Solé, Stéphane Mathis, Marie-Hélène Violleau, Christine Tranchant, Sihame Messai, Jean-Baptiste Chanson, Aleksandra Nadaj-Pakleza, Arnaud Verloes, Leila Zaidi, Manuela Gambella, Michele Cavalli, Tanya Stojkovic, Sophie Demeret, Loic Le Guennec, Giorgia Querin, Nicolas Weiss, Marion Masingue, Laurent Magy, Karima Ghorab, Ia Rukhadze, Alexander Tsiskaridze, Marina Janelidze, Temur Margania, Florian Then Bergh, Eike Hänsel, Andrea Kalb, Bianca Meilick, Mandy Reuschel, Lars-Malte Teußer, Astrid Unterlauft, Clemens Goedel, Tim Hagenacker, Andreas Totzeck, Benjamin Stolte, Franz Blaes, Christine Bindler, Vasilios Tsoutsikas, Annekathrin Roediger, Christian Geis, Jens Schmidt, Jana Zschüntzsch, Margret Schwarz, Stefanie Meyer, Karsten Kummer, Stefanie Glaubitz, Rachel Zeng, Heinz Wiendl, Luisa Klotz, Anna Lammerskitten, Jan Lünemann, Péter Diószeghy, Lorenzo Maggi, Elena Rinaldi, Matteo Gastaldi, Federico Mazzacane, Pietro Businaro, Raffaele Iorio, Giovanni Antonini, Laura Fionda, Rita Rinaldi, Simone Rossi, Francesco Habetswallner, Francesco Tuccillo, Haruna Umehara, Eiko Uenaka, Masanori Takahashi, Keiko Higashi, Makoto Kinoshita, Emika Yoneda, Noriko Nakamura, Saeka Fujita, Tomoya Kubota, Masami Ono, Sana Yamamoto, Taku Hatano, Kazuki Oikoshi, Kazumasa Yokoyama, Yutaka Oji, Yuji Tomizawa, Akiyuki Uzawa, Manato Yasuda, Sachiko Akita, Yukiko Ozawa, Yosuke Onishi, Miki Takaki, Hiromi Yamada, Kanako Minemoto, Miki Sanko, Nanae Izawa, Mayumi Nakayama, Masayuki Masuda, Rune Tsuji, Nobuhiro Ido, Yumi Hyodo, Yoshihiko Okubo, Akiko Minohara, Nana Haraguchi, Makiko Naito, Seiko Yoshida, Yuri Fukushige, Akira Tsujino, Atsushi Nagaoka, Teiichiro Miyazaki, Shunsuke Yoshimura, Takuro Hirayama, Tomoaki Shima, Naoko Okamoto, Riki Matsumoto, Kenji Sekiguchi, Takehiro Ueda, Norio Chihara, Mari Kirimura, Emi Sunagawa, Ayaka Suzuki, Shigeaki Suzuki, Aozora Wada, Kei Ishizuchi, Yasushi Suzuki, Mitsuo Yata, Yuka Komatsu, Kenichi Tsukita, Genya Watanabe, Kazuki Sato, Emiko Kawasaki, Naoki Yamamoto, Hirohiko Ono, Tomoko Tsuda, Shigeki Ohashi, Yuka Fujisawa, Yumiko Yokota, Yuriko Nagane, Kameda Ayumi, Yuka Takematsu, Hiroyuki Naito, Kumiko Kuwada, Konrad Rejdak, Sebastian Szklener, Monika Kitowska, Kandyda Derkacz, Tomasz Berkowicz, Paulina Budzinska, Marek Halas, Leonid Zaslavskiy, Evgeniya Skornyakova, Sergey Kotov, Ekaterina Novikova, Olga Sidorova, Vitalii Goldobin, Tatiana Alekseeva, Patimat Isabekova, Nadezhda Malkova, Denis Korobko, Gordana Djordjevic, Aleksandar Stojanov, Stojan Peric, Dragana Lavrnic, Ivo Bozovic, Aleksa Palibrk, Carlos Casasnovas, Velina Nedkova-Hristova, Nuria Vidal Fernández, Elena Cortés Vicente, Luis Querol Gutiérrez, Maria Salvadó Figueras, Anna Canovas Segura, Raúl Juntas Morales, Daniel Sanchez Tejerina, Albert Saiz, Yolanda Blanco Morgado, Sara Llufriú Durán, María Sepúlveda Gázquez, Eugenia María Martínez Hernández, Gerardo Gutiérrez Gutiérrez, Paqui Iniesta, José Meca Lallana, Yuh-Cherng Guo, Hou-Chang Chiu, Jiann-Horng Yeh, Ya Hui Chen, Mei Fen Lee, Yi-Chung Lee, Kuan Lin Lai, Said Beydoun, Salma Akhter, Lucy Lam, Alisha Thomas, Michael Rivner, Brandy Quarles, Dale Lange, Shara Holzberg, Pantelis Pavlakis, Ashwathy Goutham, Henry Kaminski, Radwa Aly, Lisa Ashworth, Kathryn Bender, Karie Bond, Joanne Buckner, Sara Byerly, James Caress, Jessyca Clemons, Asha Farmer, Catherine Franklin, Summer Harris, Meredith Hiatt, Rachana Gandhi Mehta, Gina Miller, Lynn Smith, Rose Smith, Brian Strittmatter, Tahseen Mozaffar, Isela Hernandez, Kelsey Moulton, Chafic Karam, Pranali Ravikumar, Catherine Lomen-Hoerth, Laura Rosow, Hannah George, Viktoriya Irodenko, Carol Denny, Bart Hanson, Sara Klein, Jennifer Martinez-Thompson, Elie Naddaf, Denny Padgett, Eric Sorenson, Jane L Sultze, Delena Weis, Kourosh Rezania, Jason Thonhoff, Sheetal Shroff, Robert Pascuzzi, Angela Micheels, Cynthia Bodkin, Adam Comer, Gelasio Baras, Renee Wagner, Zabeen Mahuwala, Stephen Ryan, Kai Su, Khema Sharma, Andrew Brown, and Kore Liow

Subjects
Neurology (clinical)
Published
2023
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21. Effectiveness of early cycles of fast-acting treatment in generalised myasthenia gravis

Author

Akiyuki Uzawa, Shigeaki Suzuki, Satoshi Kuwabara, Hiroyuki Akamine, Yosuke Onishi, Manato Yasuda, Yukiko Ozawa, Naoki Kawaguchi, Tomoya Kubota, Masanori P Takahashi, Yasushi Suzuki, Genya Watanabe, Takashi Kimura, Takamichi Sugimoto, Makoto Samukawa, Naoya Minami, Masayuki Masuda, Shingo Konno, Yuriko Nagane, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
Psychiatry and Mental health, Surgery, Neurology (clinical)
Abstract

BackgroundEarly fast-acting treatment (EFT) is the aggressive use of fast-acting therapies such as plasmapheresis, intravenous immunoglobulin and/or intravenous high-dose methylprednisolone (IVMP) from the early phases of treatment. EFT is reportedly beneficial for early achievement of minimal manifestations (MM) or better status with ≤5 mg/day prednisolone (MM5mg), a practical therapeutic target for myasthenia gravis (MG).ObjectiveThe current study aimed to clarify which specific EFT regimen is efficacious and the patient characteristics that confer sensitivity to EFT.MethodsWe recruited a total of 1710 consecutive patients with MG who enrolled in the Japan MG Registry for this large-cohort study. Among them, 1066 with generalised MG who had received immunotherapy were analysed. Prognostic background factors were matched in a 1:1 ratio using propensity score matching analysis between patients treated with EFT (n=350) and those treated without EFT (n=350). The clinical course and time to first achieve MM5mg after starting immunotherapy was analysed in relation to treatment combinations and patient characteristics.ResultsKaplan-Meier analyses showed that EFT had a significant effect on the achievement of MM5mg (pConclusionEarly cycles of intervention with EFT and early use of calcineurin inhibitors provides long-term benefits in terms of achieving therapeutic targets for generalised MG, regardless of clinical subtype.

Published
2023
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22. Impact of Early Treatment with Intravenous High-Dose Methylprednisolone for Ocular Myasthenia Gravis

Author

Akiyuki Uzawa, Shigeaki Suzuki, Satoshi Kuwabara, Hiroyuki Akamine, Yosuke Onishi, Manato Yasuda, Yukiko Ozawa, Naoki Kawaguchi, Tomoya Kubota, Masanori P. Takahashi, Yasushi Suzuki, Genya Watanabe, Takashi Kimura, Takamichi Sugimoto, Makoto Samukawa, Naoya Minami, Masayuki Masuda, Shingo Konno, Yuriko Nagane, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
Pharmacology, Pharmacology (medical), Neurology (clinical)
Abstract

The efficacy of intravenous high-dose methylprednisolone (IVMP) in ocular myasthenia gravis (MG) has not been fully established. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of early intervention with IVMP for achieving the therapeutic targets (minimal manifestations [MM] or MM or better status with prednisolone ≤ 5 mg/day [MM5mg]) in ocular MG. In this observational study, we included a total of 1710 consecutive patients with MG enrolled in the Japan MG Registry in 2021. Of these, 204 patients with ocular MG who received immunotherapy were analyzed. The clinical course and time to first achieve MM or MM5mg after starting immunotherapy were compared between the early IVMP group (treated with IVMP within 3 months of treatment initiation) and the non-early IVMP group. Despite having greater clinical severity before immunotherapy and lower oral prednisolone doses throughout the course, the early IVMP group (n = 55) showed a higher rate of achievement of MM (P = 0.0040, log-rank test; hazard ratio 1.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-2.20, P 0.0001) and MM5mg (P = 0.0005, log-rank test; hazard ratio 1.78, 95% CI 1.27-2.51, P 0.0001) compared with the non-early IVMP group (n = 149). In conclusion, an early intervention with IVMP is likely to increase the probability of achieving a better long-term outcome and reducing the total dose of corticosteroids in ocular MG.

Published
2023
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23. Japan <scp>MG</scp> registry: Chronological surveys over 10 years

Author

Shigeaki Suzuki, Masayuki Masuda, Akiyuki Uzawa, Yuriko Nagane, Shingo Konno, Yasushi Suzuki, Tomoya Kubota, Takamichi Sugimoto, Makoto Samukawa, Genya Watanabe, Kei Ishizuchi, Hiroyuki Akamine, Yosuke Onishi, Kazuki Yoshizumi, Takafumi Uchi, Itaru Amino, Yuki Ueta, Naoya Minami, Naoki Kawaguchi, Takashi Kimura, Masanori P. Takahashi, Hiroyuki Murai, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
Immunology and Microbiology (miscellaneous), Immunology, Neuroscience (miscellaneous), Neurology (clinical)
Published
2022
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24. Long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of efgartigimod (ADAPT+): interim results from a phase 3 open-label extension study in participants with generalized myasthenia gravis.

Author

Howard Jr., James F., Bril, Vera, Tuan Vu, Karam, Chafic, Peric, Stojan, De Bleecker, Jan L., Hiroyuki Murai, Meisel, Andreas, Beydoun, Said R., Pasnoor, Mamatha, Guglietta, Antonio, Van Hoorick, Benjamin, Steeland, Sophie, T'joen, Caroline, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Verschuuren, Jan, and Mantegazza, Renato

Subjects
MYASTHENIA gravis, INTRAVENOUS therapy, MUSCLE weakness, FC receptors, IMMUNOGLOBULIN G
Abstract

Objective: ADAPT+ assessed the long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of efgartigimod in adult participants with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). Methods: ADAPT+ was an open-label, single-arm, multicenter, up to 3-year extension of the pivotal phase 3 ADAPT study. Efgartigimod was administered in treatment cycles of 4 intravenous infusions (one 10 mg/kg infusion per week). Initiation of subsequent treatment cycles was individualized based on clinical evaluation. Safety endpoints included incidence and severity of adverse events. Efficacy endpoints assessed disease severity using Myasthenia Gravis-Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) and Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) scores. Results: As of January 2022, 151 participants had rolled over to ADAPT+ and 145 had received ≥1 dose of efgartigimod, of whom, 111 (76.6%) were AChR-Ab+ and 34 (23.4%) were AChR-Ab-. Mean study duration (treatment plus follow-up) was 548 days, and participants received up to 17 treatment cycles, corresponding to 217.6 participant-years of exposure. In the overall population, 123 (84.8%) participants reported ≥1 treatment-emergent adverse event; most frequent were headache (36 [24.8%]), COVID-19 (22 [15.2%]), and nasopharyngitis (20 [13.8%]). Clinically meaningful improvement (CMI) in mean MG-ADL and QMG scores was seen as early as 1 week following the first infusion across multiple cycles in AChR-Ab+ and AChR-Ab-participants. Maximal MG-ADL and QMG improvements aligned with onset and magnitude of total IgG and AChR-Ab reductions. For AChR-Ab+ participants at any time point in each of the first 10 treatment cycles, more than 90% had a maximum reduction of ≥2 points (CMI) in MG-ADL total score; across the 7 cycles in which QMG was measured, 69.4% to 91.3% of participants demonstrated a maximum reduction of ≥3 points (CMI) in QMG total score. Many participants demonstrated improvements well beyond CMI thresholds. In AChR-Ab+ participants with ≥1 year of combined follow-up between ADAPT and ADAPT+, mean number of annualized cycles was 4.7 per year (median [range] 5.0 [0.5-7.6]). Conclusion: Results of ADAPT+ corroborate the substantial clinical improvements seen with efgartigimod in ADAPT and support its long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy, as well as an individualized dosing regimen for treatment of gMG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2024
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30. Long-term Safety and Efficacy of Efgartigimod in Patients With Generalized Myasthenia Gravis: Interim Results of the ADAPT+ Study

Author

James Howard, Vera Bril, Tuan Vu, Chafic Karam, Stojan Peric, Jan De Bleecker, Hiroyuki Murai, Andreas Meisel, Said Beydoun, Mamatha Pasnoor, Antonio Guglietta, Peter Ulrichts, Caroline T'joen, Edward Brauer, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Jan Verschuuren, and Renato Mantegazza

Subjects
Neurology (clinical)
Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of efgartigimod in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (MG) enrolled in the ADAPT+ long-term extension study.BackgroundTreatment with efgartigimod, a human IgG1 antibody Fc-fragment that blocks neonatal Fc receptor, resulted in clinically meaningful improvement (CMI) in MG-specific outcome measures in the ADAPT phase 3 clinical trial. All patients who completed ADAPT were eligible to enroll in its ongoing open-label, 3-year extension study, ADAPT+.Design/MethodsEfgartigimod (10 mg/kg IV) was administered in cycles of once-weekly infusions for 4 weeks, with subsequent cycles initiated based on clinical evaluation. Efficacy was assessed during each cycle utilizing Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) and Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) scales.ResultsNinety-one percent of ADAPT patients (151/167) entered ADAPT+. As of February 2021, 106 AChR-Ab+ and 33 AChR-Ab– patients had received at least 1 dose of open-label efgartigimod (including 66 ADAPT placebo [PBO] patients). The mean (SD) study duration was 363 (114) days, resulting in 138 patient-years of observation. Similar incidence rates per patient year (IR/PY) of serious adverse events were seen in ADAPT (efgartigimod: 0.11; placebo: 0.29) compared to ADAPT+ (0.25). Five deaths (acute myocardial infarction, COVID-19 pneumonia/septic shock, bacterial pneumonia/MG crisis, malignant lung neoplasm, and unknown [multiple cardiovascular risk factors identified on autopsy]) occurred; none were considered related to efgartigimod by the investigator. AEs were predominantly mild or moderate. CMI was observed in AChR-Ab+ patients during each cycle (up to 10 cycles) at magnitudes comparable to improvements observed at week 3 of cycle 1 (mean[SE] improvements: MG-ADL, –5.1[0.34]; QMG, –4.7[0.41]). Clinical improvements mirrored maximal reductions in total IgG and AChR-Abs across all cycles.ConclusionsThis analysis suggests the efficacy of long-term treatment with efgartigimod was consistent across multiple cycles. No new safety signals were identified, despite being conducted before vaccine availability during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published
2022
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31. Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

Author

Mantegazza, R., Wolfe, G. I., Muppidi, S., Wiendl, H., Fujita, K. P., O'Brien, F. L., Booth, H. D. E., Howard, J. F., Claudio Gabriel Mazia, Miguel, Wilken, Fabio, Barroso, Juliet, Saba, Marcelo, Rugiero, Mariela, Bettini, Marcelo, Chaves, Gonzalo, Vidal, Alejandra Dalila Garcia, Jan De Bleecker, Guy Van den Abeele, Kathy de Koning, Katrien De Mey, Rudy, Mercelis, Délphine, Mahieu, Linda, Wagemaekers, Philip Van Damme, Annelies, Depreitere, Caroline, Schotte, Charlotte, Smetcoren, Olivier, Stevens, Sien Van Daele, Nicolas, Vandenbussche, Annelies, Vanhee, Sarah, Verjans, Jan, Vynckier, Ann, D'Hont, Petra, Tilkin, Alzira Alves de Siqueira Carvalho, Igor Dias Brockhausen, David, Feder, Daniel, Ambrosio, Gabor Lovasamela César, Ana Paula Melo, Renata Martins Ribeiro, Rosana, Rocha, Bruno Bezerra Rosa, Thabata, Veiga, Luiz Augusto da Silva, Murilo Santos Engel, Jordana Gonçalves Geraldo, Maria da Penha Ananias Morita, Erica Nogueira Coelho, Gabriel, Paiva, Marina, Pozo, Natalia, Prando, Debora Dada Martineli Torres, Cristiani Fernanda Butinhao, Gustavo, Duran, Tomás Augusto Suriane Fialho, Tamires Cristina Gomes da Silva, Luiz Otavio Maia Gonçalves, Lucas Eduardo Pazetto, Luciana Renata Cubas Volpe, Luciana Souza Duca, Maurício AndréGheller Friedrich, Alexandre, Guerreiro, Henrique, Mohr, Maurer Pereira Martins, Daiane da Cruz Pacheco, Luciana, Ferreira, Ana Paula Macagnan, Graziela, Pinto, Aline de Cassia Santos, Acary Souza Bulle Oliveira, Ana Carolina Amaral de Andrade, Marcelo, Annes, Liene Duarte Silva, Valeria Cavalcante Lino, Wladimir, Pinto, Natália, Assis, Fernanda, Carrara, Carolina, Miranda, Iandra, Souza, Patrícia, Fernandes, Zaeem, Siddiqi, Cecile, Phan, Jeffrey, Narayan, Derrick, Blackmore, Ashley, Mallon, Rikki, Roderus, Elizabeth, Watt, Stanislav, Vohanka, Josef, Bednarik, Magda, Chmelikova, Marek, Cierny, Stanislava, Toncrova, Jana, Junkerova, Barbora, Kurkova, Katarina, Reguliova, Olga, Zapletalova, Jiri, Pitha, Iveta, Novakova, Michaela, Tyblova, Ivana, Jurajdova, Marcela, Wolfova, Henning, Andersen, Thomas, Harbo, Lotte, Vinge, Susanne, Krogh, Anita, Mogensen, John, Vissing, Joan, Højgaard, Nanna, Witting, Anne Mette Ostergaard Autzen, Jane, Pedersen, Juha-Pekka, Erälinna, Mikko, Laaksonen, Olli, Oksaranta, Tuula, Harrison, Jaana, Eriksson, Csilla, Rozsa, Melinda, Horvath, Gabor, Lovas, Judit, Matolcsi, Gedeonne, Jakab, Gyorgyi, Szabo, Brigitta, Szabadosne, Laszlo, Vecsei, Livia, Dezsi, Edina, Varga, Monika, Konyane, Antonini, Giovanni, Antonella Di Pasquale, Garibaldi, Matteo, Morino, Stefania, Troili, Fernanda, Fionda, Laura, Amelia, Evoli, Paolo Emilio Alboini, Valentina, D'Amato, Raffaele, Iorio, Inghilleri, Maurizio, Frasca, Vittorio, Elena, Giacomelli, Gori, MARIA CRISTINA, Diego, Lopergolo, Onesti, Emanuela, Maria, Gabriele, Francesco, Saccà, Alessandro, Filla, Teresa, Costabile, Enrico, Marano, Angiola, Fasanaro, Angela, Marsili, Giorgia, Puorro, Carlo, Antozzi, Silvia, Bonanno, Giorgia, Camera, Alberta, Locatelli, Lorenzo, Maggi, Maria, Pasanisi, Angela, Campanella, Akiyuki, Uzawa, Tetsuya, Kanai, Naoki, Kawaguchi, Masahiro, Mori, Yoko, Kaneko, Akiko, Kanzaki, Eri, Kobayashi, Hiroyuki, Murai, Katsuhisa, Masaki, Dai, Matsuse, Takuya, Matsushita, Taira, Uehara, Misa, Shimpo, Maki, Jingu, Keiko, Kikutake, Yumiko, Nakamura, Yoshiko, Sano, Kimiaki, Utsugisawa, Yuriko, Nagane, Ikuko, Kamegamori, Tomoko, Tsuda, Yuko, Fujii, Kazumi, Futono, Yukiko, Ozawa, Aya, Mizugami, Yuka, Saito, Makoto, Samukawa, Hidekazu, Suzuki, Miyuki, Morikawa, Sachiko, Kamakura, Eriko, Miyawaki, Meinoshin, Okumura, Soichiro, Funaka, Tomohiro, Kawamura, Masayuki, Nakamori, Masanori, Takahashi, Namie, Taichi, Tomoya, Hasuike, Eriko, Higuchi, Hisako, Kobayashi, Kaori, Osakada, Hirokazu, Shiraishi, Teiichiro, Miyazaki, Masakatsu, Motomura, Akihiro, Mukaino, Shunsuke, Yoshimura, Shizuka, Asada, Seiko, Yoshida, Shoko, Amamoto, Tomomi, Kobashikawa, Megumi, Koga, Maeda, Yasuko, Kazumi, Takada, Mihoko, Takada, Masako, Tsurumaru, Yumi, Yamashita, Yasushi, Suzuki, Tetsuya, Akiyama, Koichi, Narikawa, Ohito, Tano, Kenichi, Tsukita, Rikako, Kurihara, Fumie, Meguro, Yusuke, Fukuda, Miwako, Sato, Tomihiro, Imai, Emiko, Tsuda, Shun, Shimohama, Takashi, Hayashi, Shin, Hisahara, Jun, Kawamata, Takashi, Murahara, Masaki, Saitoh, Shuichiro, Suzuki, Daisuke, Yamamoto, Yoko, Ishiyama, Naoko, Ishiyama, Mayuko, Noshiro, Rumi, Takeyama, Kaori, Uwasa, Ikuko, Yasuda, Anneke van der Kooi, Marianne de Visser, Tamar, Gibson, Byung-Jo, Kim, Chang Nyoung Lee, Yong Seo Koo, Hung Youl Seok, Hoo Nam Kang, Hyejin, Ra, Byoung Joon Kim, Eun Bin Cho, Misong, Choi, Hyelim, Lee, Ju-Hong, Min, Jinmyoung, Seok, Jieun, Lee, Da Yoon Koh, Juyoung, Kwon, Sangae, Park, Eun Haw Choi, Yoon-Ho, Hong, So-Hyun, Ahn, Dae Lim Koo, Jae-Sung, Lim, Chae Won Shin, Ji Ye Hwang, Miri, Kim, Seung Min Kim, Ha-Neul, Jeong, Jinwoo, Jung, Yool-Hee, Kim, Hyung Seok Lee, Ha Young Shin, Eun Bi Hwang, Miju, Shin, Carlos, Casasnovas, Maria Antonia Alberti Aguilo, Christian, Homedes-Pedret, Natalia Julia Palacios, Laura Diez Porras, Valentina Velez Santamaria, Ana, Lazaro, Josep Gamez Carbonell, Pilar, Sune, Maria Salvado Figueras, Gisela, Gili, Gonzalo, Mazuela, Isabel, Illa, Elena Cortes Vicente, Jordi, Diaz-Manera, Luis Antonio Querol Gutiérrez, Ricardo Rojas Garcia, Nuria, Vidal, Elisabet, Arribas-Ibar, Exuperio Diez Tejedor, Pilar Gomez Salcedo, Mireya, Fernandez-Fournier, Pedro Lopez Ruiz, Francisco Javier Rodriguez de Rivera, Maria, Sastre, Fredrik, Piehl, Albert, Hietala, Lena, Bjarbo, Ihsan, Sengun, Arzu, Meherremova, Pinar, Ozcelik, Bengu, Balkan, Celal, Tuga, Muzeyyen, Ugur, Sevim, Erdem-Ozdamar, Can Ebru Bekircan-Kurt, Nazire Pinar Acar, Ezgi, Yilmaz, Yagmur, Caliskan, Gulsah, Orsel, Husnu, Efendi, Seda, Aydinlik, Hakan, Cavus, Ayse, Kutlu, Gulsah, Becerikli, Cansu, Semiz, Ozlem, Tun, Murat, Terzi, Baki, Dogan, Musa Kazim Onar, Sedat, Sen, Tugce Kirbas Cavdar, Adife, Veske, Fiona, Norwood, Aikaterini, Dimitriou, Jakit, Gollogly, Mohamed, Mahdi-Rogers, Arshira, Seddigh, Giannis, Sokratous, Gal, Maier, Faisal, Sohail, Saiju, Jacob, Girija, Sadalage, Pravin, Torane, Claire, Brown, Amna, Shah, Sivakumar, Sathasivam, Heike, Arndt, Debbie, Davies, Dave, Watling, Anthony, Amato, Thomas, Cochrane, Mohammed, Salajegheh, Kristen, Roe, Katherine, Amato, Shirli, Toska, Nicholas, Silvestri, Kara, Patrick, Karen, Zakalik, Jonathan, Katz, Robert, Miller, Marguerite, Engel, Dallas, Forshew, Elena, Bravver, Benjamin, Brooks, Mohammed, Sanjak, Sarah, Plevka, Maryanne, Burdette, Scott, Cunningham, Megan, Kramer, Joanne, Nemeth, Clara, Schommer, Tierney, Scott, Vern, Juel, Jeffrey, Guptill, Lisa, Hobson-Webb, Janice, Massey, Kate, Beck, Donna, Carnes, John, Loor, Amanda, Anderson, Robert, Pascuzzi, Cynthia, Bodkin, John, Kincaid, Riley, Snook, Sandra, Guingrich, Angela, Micheels, Vinay, Chaudhry, Andrea, Corse, Betsy, Mosmiller, Andrea, Kelley, Doreen, Ho, Jayashri, Srinivasan, Michal, Vytopil, Jordan, Jara, Nicholas, Ventura, Cynthia, Carter, Craig, Donahue, Carol, Herbert, Stephanie, Scala, Elaine, Weiner, Sharmeen, Alam, Jonathan, Mckinnon, Laura, Haar, Naya, Mckinnon, Karan, Alcon, Kaitlyn, Mckenna, Nadia, Sattar, Kevin, Daniels, Dennis, Jeffery, Miriam, Freimer, Joseph Chad Hoyle, John, Kissel, Julie, Agriesti, Sharon, Chelnick, Louisa, Mezache, Colleen, Pineda, Filiz, Muharrem, Chafic, Karam, Julie, Khoury, Tessa, Marburger, Harpreet, Kaur, Diana, Dimitrova, James, Gilchrist, Brajesh, Agrawal, Mona, Elsayed, Stephanie, Kohlrus, Angela, Ardoin, Taylor, Darnell, Laura, Golden, Barbara, Lokaitis, Jenna, Seelbach, Neelam, Goyal, Sarada, Sakamuri, Yuen, T So, Shirley, Paulose, Sabrina, Pol, Lesly, Welsh, Ratna, Bhavaraju-Sanka, Alejandro Tobon Gonzalez, Lorraine, Dishman, Floyd, Jones, Anna, Gonzalez, Patricia, Padilla, Amy, Saklad, Marcela, Silva, Sharon, Nations, Jaya, Trivedi, Steve, Hopkins, Mohamed, Kazamel, Mohammad, Alsharabati, Liang, Lu, Kenkichi, Nozaki, Sandi, Mumfrey-Thomas, Amy, Woodall, Tahseen, Mozaffar, Tiyonnoh, Cash, Namita, Goyal, Gulmohor, Roy, Veena, Mathew, Fatima, Maqsood, Brian, Minton, H James Jones, Jeffrey, Rosenfeld, Rebekah, Garcia, Laura, Echevarria, Sonia, Garcia, Michael, Pulley, Shachie, Aranke, Alan Ross Berger, Jaimin, Shah, Yasmeen, Shabbir, Lisa, Smith, Mary, Varghese, Laurie, Gutmann, Ludwig, Gutmann, Nivedita, Jerath, Christopher, Nance, Andrea, Swenson, Heena, Olalde, Nicole, Kressin, Jeri, Sieren, Richard, Barohn, Mazen, Dimachkie, Melanie, Glenn, April, Mcvey, Mamatha, Pasnoor, Jeffery, Statland, Yunxia, Wang, Tina, Liu, Kelley, Emmons, Nicole, Jenci, Jerry, Locheke, Alex, Fondaw, Kathryn, Johns, Gabrielle, Rico, Maureen, Walsh, Laura, Herbelin, Charlene, Hafer-Macko, Justin, Kwan, Lindsay, Zilliox, Karen, Callison, Valerie, Young, Beth, Disanzo, Kerry, Naunton, Michael, Benatar, Martin, Bilsker, Khema, Sharma, Anne, Cooley, Eliana, Reyes, Sara-Claude, Michon, Danielle, Sheldon, Julie, Steele, Rebecca, Traub, Manisha, Chopra, Tuan, Vu, Lara, Katzin, Terry, Mcclain, Brittany, Harvey, Adam, Hart, Kristin, Huynh, Said, Beydoun, Amaiak, Chilingaryan, Victor, Doan, Brian, Droker, Hui, Gong, Sanaz, Karimi, Frank, Lin, Krishna, Polaka, Akshay, Shah, Anh, Tran, Salma, Akhter, Ali, Malekniazi, Rup, Tandan, Michael, Hehir, Waqar, Waheed, Shannon, Lucy, Michael, Weiss, Jane, Distad, Susan, Strom, Sharon, Downing, Bryan, Kim, Tulio, Bertorini, Thomas, Arnold, Kendrick, Henderson, Rekha, Pillai, Liu, Ye, Lauren, Wheeler, Jasmine, Hewlett, Mollie, Vanderhook, Richard, Nowak, Daniel, Dicapua, Benison, Keung, Aditya, Kumar, Huned, Patwa, Kimberly, Robeson, Irene, Yang, Joan, Nye, and Hong, Vu

Subjects
Adult, Male, 0301 basic medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, Clinical Neurology, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, Placebo, Article, Antibodies, Post-intervention, law.invention, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Randomized controlled trial, Refractory, law, Internal medicine, Monoclonal, Myasthenia Gravis, Medicine and Health Sciences, Humans, Medicine, Humanized, Science & Technology, business.industry, Middle Aged, Eculizumab, Complement Inactivating Agents, Female, Treatment Outcome, EFFICACY, medicine.disease, Myasthenia gravis, Clinical trial, 030104 developmental biology, SAFETY, Neurosciences & Neurology, Neurology (clinical), business, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, COMPLEMENT INHIBITOR ECULIZUMAB, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery, medicine.drug
Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti–acetylcholine receptor–positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension.MethodsPatients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study.ResultsA total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1–4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected.ConclusionEculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population.ClinicalTrials.gov IdentifierREGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624.Classification of EvidenceThis study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo.

Published
2020
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32. Seeking ideal clinical guidelines for myasthenia gravis

Author

Masakatsu Motomura, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Tomihiro Imai, Hiroyuki Murai, and Shigeaki Suzuki

Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty, Ideal (set theory), Immunology and Microbiology (miscellaneous), business.industry, Immunology, Neuroscience (miscellaneous), medicine, Neurology (clinical), medicine.disease, Intensive care medicine, business, Myasthenia gravis
Published
2020
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33. Health‐related quality of life and treatment strategies in myasthenia gravis

Author

Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Tomihiro Imai, Akiyuki Uzawa, Shigeaki Suzuki, Hiroyuki Murai, and Yuriko Nagane

Subjects
Health related quality of life, medicine.medical_specialty, business.industry, Immunology, Neuroscience (miscellaneous), medicine.disease, Myasthenia gravis, Treatment targets, Immunology and Microbiology (miscellaneous), Treatment strategy, Medicine, Neurology (clinical), business, Intensive care medicine
Published
2020
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34. Anti‐striational antibodies: Expanding their clinical significance

Author

Shigeaki Suzuki, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Hiroyuki Murai, Tomihiro Imai, Yuriko Nagane, Akiyuki Uzawa, and Jin Nakahara

Subjects
Thymoma, Myocarditis, biology, business.industry, Immunology, Neuroscience (miscellaneous), medicine.disease, Myasthenia gravis, Immunology and Microbiology (miscellaneous), biology.protein, medicine, Clinical significance, Neurology (clinical), Antibody, business
Published
2020
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35. Clinical burden and healthcare resource utilization associated with myasthenia gravis: Assessments from a Japanese claims database

Author

Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Tatsunori Murata, Miki Hasebe, and Hiroyuki Murai

Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty, business.industry, Immunology, Neuroscience (miscellaneous), medicine.disease, Myasthenia gravis, Immunology and Microbiology (miscellaneous), Respiratory failure, Health care, Medicine, Neurology (clinical), Claims database, business, Intensive care medicine, Resource utilization
Published
2019
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36. Long-term assessment of efgartigimod in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis: ADAPT+ study interim results

Author

Saiju Jacob, James Howard, Vera Bril, Stojan Peric, Jan De Bleecker, Carolin T’joen, Jackalyne Travers, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Jan Verschuuren, and Renato Mantegazza

Subjects
Psychiatry and Mental health, Surgery, Neurology (clinical)
Abstract

IntroductionIn ADAPT, efgartigimod, a human IgG1 antibody Fc-fragment blocking neonatal Fc receptor, resulted in clinically meaningful improvement (CMI) in myasthenia gravis (MG)-specific measures. Patients completing ADAPT were eligible to enrol in ADAPT+ (open-label, 3-year extension study).MethodsEfgartigimod, 10 mg/kg intravenous infusion administered once-weekly for 4 weeks; subsequent cycles initiated based on predefined criteria. Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) and Quantitative MG (QMG) scales were completed every cycle.ResultsFrom ADAPT 91% patients (151/167) entered ADAPT+. As of February 2021, 106 AChR-Ab+ and 33 AChR-Ab– had received ≥1 dose of efgartigimod (including 66 ADAPT placebo patients). Mean(SD) study duration: 363(114) days. The most common adverse events (AEs) in the efgartigimod-efgartigimod and placebo-efgartigimod arms: headache (15.1%/30.3%), nasopharyngitis (8.2%/13.6%), diarrhoea (6.8%/10.6%). Five deaths occurred, none considered efgartigimod-related by investigators. AEs were predominantly mild or moderate. CMI was observed in AChR-Ab+ patients during each cycle (up to 10 cycles), comparable to improvements at week 3, cycle 1 (mean[SE]: MG-ADL, –5.1[0.34]; QMG, –4.7[0.41]). Clinical improvements mirrored maximal reductions in total IgG and AChR-Abs across all cycles. Similar results observed in AChR-Ab– patients.ConclusionsThis suggests long-term efgartigimod was well-tolerated and efficacious, regardless of antibody status. No new safety signals were identified.

Published
2022
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37. Safety and effectiveness of eculizumab in Japanese patients with generalized myasthenia gravis: interim analysis of post-marketing surveillance

Author

Yuji Fukamizu, Hiroyuki Murai, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Miki Hasebe, Ema Rodrigues, and Shigeaki Suzuki

Subjects
Oncology, safety, medicine.medical_specialty, Thymoma, medicine.drug_class, Postmarketing surveillance, effectiveness, 030204 cardiovascular system & hematology, Monoclonal antibody, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Internal medicine, medicine, Generalized myasthenia, RC346-429, Original Research, Pharmacology, myasthenia gravis, business.industry, Eculizumab, thymoma, medicine.disease, Interim analysis, Myasthenia gravis, Complement system, Neurology, eculizumab, Neurology (clinical), Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, business, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery, medicine.drug
Abstract

Background: Eculizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody targeted to terminal complement protein C5, is approved in Japan for treatment of patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) whose symptoms are difficult to control with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy or plasmapheresis. Methods: This interim analysis of mandatory post-marketing surveillance in Japan assessed the safety and effectiveness of eculizumab at 26 weeks after treatment initiation in patients with AChR+ gMG. Results: Data were available for 40 adult patients in Japan [62.5% (25/40) female; mean age at eculizumab initiation, 51.0 years]. Fifteen patients had a history of thymoma. Six patients were excluded from the effectiveness analysis set due to participation in the open-label extension part of the phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled REGAIN study [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02301624]. After 26 weeks’ follow up, 32 patients (80%) were continuing eculizumab treatment. Adverse drug reactions were reported by seven patients [most frequently headache ( n = 3)]. One death was reported during eculizumab treatment (relationship unclear as determined by the treating physician) and there was one death 45 days after the last dose (considered unrelated). No meningococcal infections were reported. Mean (standard deviation) changes from baseline in Myasthenia Gravis-Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) and Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) scores were −3.7 (2.61) ( n = 27) and −5.6 (3.50) ( n = 26), respectively, at 12 weeks, and −4.3 (2.72) ( n = 26) and −5.6 (4.02) ( n = 24), respectively, at 26 weeks. Improvements in MG-ADL and QMG scores were generally similar in patients with/without a history of thymoma. Frequency of IVIg use decreased following eculizumab initiation. Conclusion: In a real-world setting, eculizumab was effective and well tolerated for the treatment of AChR+ gMG in adult Japanese patients whose disease was refractory to IVIg or plasmapheresis. These findings are consistent with the efficacy and safety results from the global phase III REGAIN study of eculizumab.

Published
2021

38. Zilucoplan: An Investigational Complement C5 Inhibitor for the Treatment of Acetylcholine Receptor Autoantibody–Positive Generalized Myasthenia Gravis

Author

Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Maria Isabel Leite, James F. Howard, Hiroyuki Murai, Duda Petra, Farzaneh-Far Ramin, John Vissing, Heinz Wiendl, and Nils Erik Gilhus

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, Autoimmune diseases, membrane attack complex, Neuromuscular junction, corticosteroids, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Myasthenia Gravis, Animals, Humans, Medicine, Receptors, Cholinergic, Pharmacology (medical), generalized myasthenia gravis, Generalized myasthenia, Autoantibodies, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Acetylcholine receptor, Pharmacology, Complement component 5, complement activation, neuromuscular junction, business.industry, Autoantibody, complement C5, Complement C5, Muscle weakness, General Medicine, Complement system, Complement Inactivating Agents, 030104 developmental biology, medicine.anatomical_structure, 030220 oncology & carcinogenesis, Immunology, medicine.symptom, business, Complement membrane attack complex
Abstract

Introduction: Generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) is an autoimmune disorder in which pathogenic autoantibodies damage the neuromuscular junction, causing disabling or life-threatening muscle weakness. Most treatments nonspecifically inhibit aspects of the immune system, do not directly address the causal mechanisms of tissue damage, and often have side-effect profiles that negatively impact patients. Understanding of the central pathogenic role of the complement cascade in gMG is advancing, and a new complement-targeting treatment is under investigation. Areas covered: We provide an overview of gMG etiology, the complement cascade, current treatments, and the investigational gMG therapy zilucoplan. Zilucoplan is a small, subcutaneously administered, macrocyclic peptide that inhibits cleavage of complement component C5 and the subsequent formation of the membrane attack complex. Expert opinion: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 clinical trial, zilucoplan demonstrated clinically meaningful complement inhibition in patients with acetylcholine receptor-positive gMG. Zilucoplan, a first-of-its-kind cyclic peptide targeting C5, appears to be a therapeutic option for the treatment of gMG based on available pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data and phase 1 and 2 efficacy, safety, and tolerability data with limited long-term follow-up. Zilucoplan use earlier in the treatment paradigm would be suitable in this population should phase 3 efficacy and safety data be equally favorable.

Published
2021
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39. Safety, efficacy, and tolerability of efgartigimod in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis (ADAPT): a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial

Author

Lucy Lam, Jiri Pitha, John Vissing, Laura Fionda, Denis Korobko, Michael Pulley, Tony Vangeneugden, Silvia Bonanno, Nobuhiro Ido, Jerrica Farias, Jafar Shabanpour, James Gilchrist, Girolamo Alfieri, Gyorgyi Szabo, Carlayne E. Jackson, Eduardo Ng, Csilla Rozsa, Hans D. Katzberg, Carlo Antozzi, Aleksandra Golenia, Sayaka Ishida, Temur Margania, Andrzej Szczudlik, Richard J. Barohn, Mari Suzuki., Robert Henegar, Kaoru Sakuma, Evanthia Bernitsas, Elena Lapochka, Yukiko Ozawa, Tomihiro Imai, Debbie Hastings, Antonio Guglietta, Benjamin Frishberg, Elena Antipenko, Vera Bril, Stanislav Vohanka, Isela Hernandez, Ivo Bozovic, Ilona Vergunova, Lorenzo Maggi, Andreas Meisel, Ali Malekniazi, Tahseen Mozaffar, Emmanuelle Salort-Campana, Yasmin Camberos, Jan J.G.M. Verschuuren, Masayuki Masuda, Masanori Takahashi, Yoshihiko Okubo, Marek Smilowski, Yasushi Suzuki, Mary Wagoner, Andrew Heim, David Bors, Chiho Watanabe, Fiammetta Vanoli, Antonio Reia, Zubair Quraishi, Omar Jawdat, Makoto Samukawa, Gregory Sahagian, Gedeonne Margo Jakab, Eiichi Nomura, Samantha Colgan, Cindy Benzel, Ayako Mori, Annabel M. Ruiter, Ratna Bharavaju-Sanka, Roman Shakarishvili, Victoria Cannon, Malkova Nadezhda, Tomas Horak, Anna Kostera-Pruszczyk, Eniko Szabo, Emilien Delmont, Alexander Tsiskaridze, Lubna Daniyal, Vidosava Rakocevic Stojanovic, Szilvia Toth, Siegfried Kohler, Iveta Novakova, Katherine Roath, Kazuna Ikeda, Salma Akhter, Claudia Heibutzki, Martijn R. Tannemaat, Marta Pinkosz, Mads Peter Godtfeldt Stemmerik, Chafic Karam, Irys Caristo, Carolyn Paiz, Josef Bednarik, Monika Frasinska, Stefania Morino, Norianne Pimentel, Kanako Minemoto, Rekha Pillai, Linda Wagemaekers, Annelien De Pue, Irina Poverennova, Katerina Reguliova, Jana Junkerova, Angela Marsili, Anne-Marie Peters, Maren Wyckmans, Michaela Tyblova, Debbie Eggleston, Anne Mette Ostergaard Autzen, Takamichi Sugimoto, Kuldeep Kumar Khatri, Niraja Suresh, Jan De Bleecker, Lea Gerischer, Grazyna Zwolinska, Kevin R Keene, Yosuke Onishi, Francesco Saccà, Zaeem A. Siddiqi, Marjolein Van Heur, Jeffrey Statland, Tatiana Romanova, Diana Dimitrova, Stojan Peric, Tomoko Tsuda, Cathy Bailey, Lubov Urtaeva, Lizzie Zafirakos, Katherine Ruzhansky, Tomoya Kubota, Angela Campanella, Nadezhda Kuznetsova, Sarah Jones, Giovanni Antonini, Hiroyuki Murai, Luca Leonardi, Alan R. Berger, Jonathan Baets, Peter Ulrichts, Said R. Beydoun, Michala Jakubikova, Mamatha Pasnoor, James F. Howard, Leila Darki, Katerina Havelkova, Namita Goyal, Akiyuki Uzawa, Tia Nguyen, Miki Takaki, Matteo Garibaldi, Manisha Kak, Ivonne Turner, Aude-Marie Grapperon, Mageda Horakova, Yuebing Li, Ivana Basta, Lech Szczechowski, Shabber Mannan, Aneta Pasko, Caroline Vinck, Riccardo Giossi, Rudolf Mercelis, Ivana Jurajdova, Lesly Welsh, Małgorzata Bilińska, Marek Halas, Dragana Lavrnic, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Todd Levine, Erik Velasquez, Daisuke Yamamoto, Constantine Farmakidis, John Anthony Morren, Sarah Hoffman, Manisha Chopra, Shingo Konno, Rita Frangiamore, Kelly Jia, Jana Horakova, Anna Melnikova, Piotr Szczudlik, Ali Habib, Giorgia Puorro, Michael D. Weiss, Robert P. Lisak, Hiroyuki Naito, Shahram Attarian, Hiroko Nakamura, Shin Hisahara, Mazen M. Dimachkie, Genya Watanabe, Duaa Jabari, Ekaterina Bulatova, Angela Genge, Makiko Naito, Melissa Currence, Henning Andersen, Katrien De Mey, Kathy de Koning, Yuen T. So, Chiara Pane, Renato Mantegazza, Rebecca Traub, Manato Yasuda, Amy Visser, Dike Remstedt, Yuka Takematsu, Frauke Stascheit, Ayumi Kamei, Tuan Vu, Tulio E. Bertorini, Ludivine Kouton, Neelam Goyal, Flicia Mada, Nizar Chahin, Mihiro Shimizu, Srikanth Muppidi, and Erina Sugano

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, Adult, Male, medicine.medical_specialty, Population, fc fragment, Placebo, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, law.invention, efgartigimod, myasthenia gravis, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Randomized controlled trial, Double-Blind Method, law, Internal medicine, Activities of Daily Living, Myasthenia Gravis, medicine, Clinical endpoint, Humans, Receptors, Cholinergic, Dosing, Longitudinal Studies, education, Biology, Autoantibodies, education.field_of_study, business.industry, Headache, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Middle Aged, medicine.disease, Myasthenia gravis, 3. Good health, Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments, Clinical trial, Chemistry, 030104 developmental biology, Tolerability, Female, Human medicine, Neurology (clinical), business, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Abstract

Background: There is an unmet need for treatment options for generalised myasthenia gravis that are effective, targeted, well tolerated, and can be used in a broad population of patients. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of efgartigimod (ARGX-113), a human IgG1 antibody Fc fragment engineered to reduce pathogenic IgG autoantibody levels, in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis. Methods: ADAPT was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial done at 56 neuromuscular academic and community centres in 15 countries in North America, Europe, and Japan. Patients aged at least 18 years with generalised myasthenia gravis were eligible to participate in the study, regardless of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody status, if they had a Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) score of at least 5 (>50% non-ocular), and were on a stable dose of at least one treatment for generalised myasthenia gravis. Patients were randomly assigned by interactive response technology (1:1) to efgartigimod (10 mg/kg) or matching placebo, administered as four infusions per cycle (one infusion per week), repeated as needed depending on clinical response no sooner than 8 weeks after initiation of the previous cycle. Patients, investigators, and clinical site staff were all masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was proportion of acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive patients who were MG-ADL responders (≥2-point MG-ADL improvement sustained for ≥4 weeks) in the first treatment cycle. The primary analysis was done in the modified intention-to-treat population of all acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive patients who had a valid baseline MG-ADL assessment and at least one post-baseline MG-ADL assessment. The safety analysis included all randomly assigned patients who received at least one dose or part dose of efgartigimod or placebo. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03669588); an open-label extension is ongoing (ADAPT+, NCT03770403). Findings: Between Sept 5, 2018, and Nov 26, 2019, 167 patients (84 in the efgartigimod group and 83 in the placebo group) were enrolled, randomly assigned, and treated. 129 (77%) were acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive. Of these patients, more of those in the efgartigimod group were MG-ADL responders (44 [68%] of 65) in cycle 1 than in the placebo group (19 [30%] of 64), with an odds ratio of 4·95 (95% CI 2·21–11·53, p

Published
2020
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40. Roles of cytokines and T cells in the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis

Author

Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Manato Yasuda, Yukiko Ozawa, Shigeaki Suzuki, Tomihiro Imai, Akiyuki Uzawa, Yuriko Nagane, Satoshi Kuwabara, and Hiroyuki Murai

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, medicine.medical_treatment, Immunology, Reviews, Inflammation, T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory, Pathogenesis, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Immune system, Myasthenia Gravis, medicine, Immunology and Allergy, Animals, Humans, Receptors, Cholinergic, B-cell activating factor, Autoantibodies, B-Lymphocytes, business.industry, Autoantibody, Interleukin, Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases, medicine.disease, Myasthenia gravis, 030104 developmental biology, Cytokine, Cytokines, Th17 Cells, medicine.symptom, business, 030215 immunology
Abstract

Summary Myasthenia gravis (MG) is characterized by muscle weakness and fatigue caused by the presence of autoantibodies against the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) or the muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK). Activated T, B and plasma cells, as well as cytokines, play important roles in the production of pathogenic autoantibodies and the induction of inflammation at the neuromuscular junction in MG. Many studies have focused on the role of cytokines and lymphocytes in anti-AChR antibody-positive MG. Chronic inflammation mediated by T helper type 17 (Th17) cells, the promotion of autoantibody production from B cells and plasma cells by follicular Th (Tfh) cells and the activation of the immune response by dysfunction of regulatory T (Treg) cells may contribute to the exacerbation of the MG pathogenesis. In fact, an increased number of Th17 cells and Tfh cells and dysfunction of Treg cells have been reported in patients with anti-AChR antibody-positive MG; moreover, the number of these cells was correlated with clinical parameters in patients with MG. Regarding cytokines, interleukin (IL)-17; a Th17-related cytokine, IL-21 (a Tfh-related cytokine), the B-cell-activating factor (BAFF; a B cell-related cytokine) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL; a B cell-related cytokine) have been reported to be up-regulated and associated with clinical parameters of MG. This review focuses on the current understanding of the involvement of cytokines and lymphocytes in the immunological pathogenesis of MG, which may lead to the development of novel therapies for this disease in the near future.

Published
2020

41. Reappraisal of Oral Steroid Therapy for Myasthenia Gravis

Author

Akiyuki Uzawa, Tomihiro Imai, Shigeaki Suzuki, Yuriko Nagane, Hiroyuki Murai, and Kimiaki Utsugisawa

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, Cross-sectional study, medicine.medical_treatment, Review, oral corticosteroids, PSL, lcsh:RC346-429, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Internal medicine, treatment strategies, medicine, Oral steroid therapy, cross-sectional study, lcsh:Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, myasthenia gravis, business.industry, medicine.disease, logistic regression analysis, Myasthenia gravis, Calcineurin, Regimen, 030104 developmental biology, Neurology, Treatment strategy, Plasmapheresis, Neurology (clinical), business, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Abstract

Treatment with oral corticosteroids at high doses with an escalation and de-escalation schedule is effective against myasthena gravis (MG). In fact, the use of corticosteroids has led to a reduction in mortality to below 10% after the 1960s. However, long-term use of oral steroids above a certain dosage level is known to cause a number of problems. In 2014, the Japanese clinical guidelines for MG proposed that the first goal in MG treatment (treatment target) should be set at minimal manifestations (MM) with oral prednisolone (PSL) 5 mg/day or below, and that treatment strategies should strive to attain this level as rapidly as possible. In 2015, a multicenter, cross-sectional study revealed that higher PSL dose and longer PSL treatment do not ensure better outcome. In the absence of good response, the PSL dose should be decreased by combining with modalities such as plasma exchange/plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin (fast-acting treatments). In 2018, we conducted a multicenter, cross-sectional study in a large population of Japanese patients with generalized MG, aiming to elucidate the correlation between oral PSL regimens and achievement of treatment goals. The ORs for low vs. high dose to achieve treatment goals at 1, 2, and 3 years were 10.4, 2.75, and 1.86, respectively, whereas the corresponding ORs for low vs. medium dose were 13.4, 3.99, and 4.92. Early combination with fast-acting therapy (OR 2.19 at 2 years, 2.11 at 3 years) or combination with calcineurin inhibitors (OR 2.09 at 2 years, 2.36 at 3 years) were also positively associated with achieving treatment goals. These results indicate that early combination of low-dose PSL regimens with other therapies is the key for early achievement of treatment goals in generalized MG. However, even with this regimen, ~35% of patients did not achieve the treatment target after 3 years. These results suggest the limitation of the current oral corticosteroid therapy. We need to develop new treatment options to increase the rate of satisfactory outcome.

Published
2020
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42. Significance of follow‐up thoracic imaging in myasthenia gravis

Author

Yuriko Nagane, Masakatsu Motomura, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Hiroyuki Murai, Tomihiro Imai, and Shigeaki Suzuki

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, Thoracic imaging, Thymoma, business.industry, Immunology, Neuroscience (miscellaneous), Cancer, medicine.disease, Myasthenia gravis, 03 medical and health sciences, 030104 developmental biology, 0302 clinical medicine, Immunology and Microbiology (miscellaneous), medicine, Neurology (clinical), Radiology, business, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Published
2018
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43. Rationale for the clinical guidelines for myasthenia gravis in Japan

Author

Yuriko Nagane, Tomihiro Imai, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Hiroyuki Murai, Shigeaki Suzuki, and Masakatsu Motomura

Subjects
Pediatrics, medicine.medical_specialty, Intravenous methylprednisolone, business.industry, General Neuroscience, medicine.medical_treatment, Disease, 030204 cardiovascular system & hematology, medicine.disease, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Myasthenia gravis, Thymectomy, Calcineurin, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, History and Philosophy of Science, Quality of life, medicine, In patient, Plasmapheresis, business, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Abstract

According to the 2014 Japanese clinical guidelines for myasthenia gravis, the most important priority in treatment is maintaining patients' health-related quality of life. Therefore, the initial treatment goal is defined as maintaining a postintervention status of minimal manifestations or better (according to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America classification) with an oral prednisolone dose of 5 mg/day or less. Every effort should be made to attain this level as rapidly as possible. To achieve this goal, the guidelines recommend minimizing the oral prednisolone dose, starting calcineurin inhibitors early in the course of treatment, using intravenous methylprednisolone infusion judiciously (often combined with plasma exchange/plasmapheresis or intravenous immunoglobulin), and effectively treating patients with an early, fast-acting treatment strategy. The early, fast-acting treatment strategy enables more frequent and earlier attainment of the initial goal than other strategies. Thymectomy is considered an option for treating nonthymomatous early-onset myasthenia gravis in patients with antiacetylcholine receptor antibodies and thymic hyperplasia in the early stages of the disease.

Published
2018
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44. Safety and tolerability of efgartigimod in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis: Phase 3 adapt study results

Author

Temur Margania, James F. Howard, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Antonio Guglietta, Chafic Karam, Roman Shakarishvili, Jan J.G.M. Verschuuren, Hiroyuki Murai, Peter Ulrichts, Renato Mantegazza, Małgorzata Bilińska, Tony Vangeneugden, Marek Smilowski, Vera Bril, Stojan Peric, and Tuan Vu

Subjects
Pediatrics, medicine.medical_specialty, Neurology, Tolerability, business.industry, medicine, In patient, Neurology (clinical), Generalized myasthenia, business
Published
2021
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45. Safety and efficacy of eculizumab in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive refractory generalised myasthenia gravis (REGAIN): a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre study

Author

Kazumi Takada, Vladislav Abramov, Seiko Yoshida, Pinar Ozcelik, Carolina Miranda, Jennifer Kane, Kaitlyn McKenna, Natasha Campbell, Sharon P. Nations, Shitiz Kumar Sriwastava, Yuko Fujii, Mayumi Murata, Linda Wagemaekers, Angela Andoin, Mollie Vanderhook, Yoshinori Okubo, Martin Bilsker, Taira Uehara, Vera Bril, Julia Wanschitz, Stanislava Toncrova, Mariela Bettini, Kazumi Futono, Shachie Aranke, Yool-hee Kim, Hiroyuki Murai, Anne Nyrhinen, Vinay Chaudhry, Raffaele Iorio, Takashi Kanda, Brittany Harvey, Francisco Javier Rodriguez de Rivera, Henning Andersen, Marianne de Visser, Miwako Sato, Yasuhiro Maeda, Fabienne Deruelle, Marina Pozo, Adam Hart, Masaki Saitoh, Wladimir Bocca Vieira de Rezende Pinto, Said R. Beydoun, Lindsay Zilliox, Akihiro Mukaino, Cinzia Caserta, Mahi Jasinarachchi, Andrea M. Corse, Nikoletta Papadopoulou, JuYoung Kwon, Fernanda Carrara, Juliet Saba, Masayuki Makamori, Vittorio Frasca, Luciana Souza Duca, Hoo Nam Kang, C. Trebst, Celile Phan, Muzeyyen Ugur, Eduardo Ng, Jonathan McKinnon, Hila Bali Kuperman, David Feder, Judit Matolcsi, Jiri Pitha, Martin Stangel, Kate Beck, Gabriel Paiva, Diego Lopergolo, Katrien De Mey, Hidenori Matsuo, Lucas Eduardo Pazetto, Eugene Lai, Amanda Anderson, Ann D'Hondt, Tetsuya Akiyama, Beverly Fyfe, Bella Gross, Elisabet Arribas-Ibar, Kathy de Koning, Gulmohor Roy, Dmitry Pokhabov, Maria Johanna Keijzers, Nicholas Ventura, Tessa Marburger, John Loor, Ji Eun Lee, Alessandro Filla, Celal Tuga, Stephanie Scala, Rudy Mercelis, Marc H. De Baets, Hisako Kobayashi, Stanislav Vohanka, Ana Paula Macagnan, Ana Carolina Amaral de Andrade, Heike Arndt, Giovanni Antonini, Yumi Yamashita, Gwendal Le Masson, Sonia Garcia, Sarah Verjans, James F. Howard, Zaeem A. Siddiqi, Yuen T. So, Megumi Koga, Exuperio Diez Tejedor, Teresa Costabile, Mihoko Takada Takada, Steve Hopkins, Jonathan S. Katz, Charlene Hafer-Macko, Erica Nogueira Coelho, Hung Youl Seok, Carol Herbert, Yuriko Nagane, Didem Altiparmak, Sachiko Kamakura, Mohammad Sanjak, Caroline Moreau, Jordi Díaz-Manera, Sivakumar Sathasivam, Michael Vytopil, Amelia Evoli, Masakatsu Motomura, Ester Reggio, Guy Van den Abeele, Hélène Zéphir, Asya Yarmoschuk, Jasmine Hewlett, Amy Wilson, Sachie Fukui, Cavit Boz, Iandra Souza, Morgane Gaboreau, Ivana Jurajdova, Sonia Decressac, Yong Seo Koo, Valentina Pegoraro, Seung Min Kim, Benison Keung, Rosana Rocha, Nanna Witting, John Vissing, Elaine Weiner, Ali Malekniazi, Larisa Babenko, Amanda C. Guidon, Gal Maier, Charlotte Smetcoren, Robert M. Pascuzzi, Domenico Marco Bonifati, Yumiko Nakamura, Tamires Cristina Gomes da Silva, Takashi Murahara, Sarah Plevka, Tomoko Tsuda, John C. Kincaid, Arnaud Lacour, Ibrez Bandukwala, Alan R. Berger, Chang Nyoung Lee, Jae-Sung Lim, Vern C. Juel, Tulio E. Bertorini, Valeria Cavalcante Lino, Namie Taichi, Ju-Hong Min, Josep Gamez, Nelly Greenbereg, William S. David, Srikanth Muppidi, Husnu Efendi, Pedro Lopez Ruiz, Baki Dogan, Cansu Semiz, Natalia Julia Palacios, Sharon Downing, Paola Cudia, Daniel Jacobs, Can Ebru Bekircan-Kurt, Takayasu Fukudome, Kristen Roe, Lena Bjarbo, Nicole Kassebaum, Makoto Samukawa, Shizuka Asada, Christina Dheel, Fatima Maqsood, Eun Bi Hwang, Kevin Daniels, Sevim Erdem-Ozdamar, Olivier Stevens, Claudio Mazia, Karan Alcon, Sibel Gazioglu, Keiko Kikutake, Luis Lay, Petra Tilkin, Corrado Angelini, Derrick Blackmore, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Despoina Charalambous, Tuula Harrison, Kristin Huynh, Huned S. Patwa, Laura Echevarria, Henrique Mohr, Christian Homedes-Pedret, Richard J. Barohn, Byung Jo Kim, Daniel DiCapua, Terry McClain, Debora Dada Martineli Torres, Maria Salvado Figueras, Ana Paula Melo, Riley Snook, Miki Ogawa, Marcelo Annes, Yuka Saito, Isabel Illa, Evanthia Bernitsas, Nicole Smalley, Molly Lindsay, Robert G. Miller, Olga Azrilin, Silvia Bonanno, Evgeniya Kosykh, Marcela Wolfova, Olivier Outteryck, Shirli Toska, Anna Kostera-Pruszczyk, HyeJin Ra, Rup Tandan, Sotirios Papagiannopoulos, Natasha Willlems, Anne Mette Ostergaard Autzen, Meinoshin Okumura, Patrick Vermersch, Sarada Sakamuri, Maria Antonia Alberti Aguilo, Shigemi Shimose, Cynthia Carter, Ira Blount, Lisa Thompson, Maurer Pereira Martins, Richard Nowak, Hyung Seok Lee, Anna Kaminska, Joan Bratton, Nazire Pinar Acar, Junichi Ogasawara, Mohamed Mahdi-Rogers, Teiichiro Mitazaki, Marek Čierny, Craig Donahue, Jaya Trivedi, Neelam Goyal, Gonzalo Vidal, Brandy Quarles, Akiko Kanzaki, Yasuko Ikeda, Tomomi Kobashikawa, Morris Brown, Daisuke Yamamoto, Michel Deneve, Denis Korobko, Beth DiSanzo, Benedikt Schoser, Heidi Boterhoven, Eri Kobayashi, Maoko Shirane, Cristiani Fernanda Butinhao, Eriko Higuchi, Takashi Hayashi, Masanori Takahashi, Anne-Cécile Wielanek-Bachelet, Benjamin Rix Brooks, Emanuela Onesti, Tahseen Mozaffar, Liang Lu, Sevasti Bostantzopoulou, Christophe Vial, Shawn J. Bird, Sandi Mumfrey-Thomas, Julie Khoury, Kara Patrick, Kenichi Tsukita, Yoshiko Sano, Hiroshi Nakazora, David P. Richman, Gavin Brown, Yoon-Ho Hong, Tomohiro Kawamura, Igor Dias Brockhausen, Ye Liu, Acary Souza Bulle Oliveira, Soichiro Funaka, Tomoya Hasuike, Frank Lin, Luis Antonio Querol Gutierrez, Namita Goyal, Elena Pinzan, Michelle Mellion, Silvia Messina, Christopher Lindberg, Csilla Rozsa, J. Chad Hoyle, Yoko Kaneko, Gustavo Duran, Francesco Patti, Arshira Seddigh, Ele Kim Perez, Jayashri Srinivasan, Michael Benatar, Philip Van Damme, Salma Akhter, Daniel Ambrosio, Maria Salvado, Floyd Jones, Mark Sivak, Anneke J. van der Kooi, Karen Callison, Catherine Nigro, Rebekah Garcia, Thomas Arnold, Hideki Arima, Brigid Crabtree, Mary Varghese, Aditya Kumar, Miri Kim, Fanny O'Brien, Naya McKinnon, Lauren Wheeler, Hong Vu, Shunsuke Yoshimura, Masatoshi Omoto, Jeffrey T. Guptill, Maria Gabriele, Francoise Bouhour, Veena Mathew, Ritsu Nakayama, Rosa Hasan, Francesco Saccà, Mohammed Salajegheh, Diana Dimitrova, Alzira Alves de Siqueira Carvalho, Maurizio Inghilleri, George Sachs, Rekha Pillai, Enrico Marano, Monika Konyane, Anh Tran, Seda Aydinlik, Kendrick Henderson, Fumie Meguro, Alexandre Guerreiro, Amaiak Chilingaryan, Tiyonnoh Cash, Jun Kawamata, Julie Steele, Helene Gervais-Bernard, Thomas Harbo, Alejandra Dalila Garcia, Musa Kazim Onar, Sabrina Sacconi, Carlos Casasnovas Pons, Nadezhda Malkova, Denis Sazonov, Mireya Fernandez-Fournier, Karin Fricke, Laurie Gutmann, Amy Saklad, Clara Schommer, Sandra Taber, Fiona Norwood, Tugce Kirbas Cavdar, Monique Miesen, Fernanda Troili, Masanori Watanabe, Ratna Bhavaraju-Sanka, Ted M. Burns, Sari Atula, Faisal Sohail, Barbora Kurkova, Brigitta Szabadosne, Luciana Renata Cubas Volpe, Jane Pedersen, Jing Jing Wang, Masashi Inoue, Antonella Di Pasquale, Megan Kramer, Magda Chmelikova, Mehran Soltani, Tuan Vu, Laura Fionda, Eliz Agopian, Susan Shin, Anthony A. Amato, Lotte Vinge, Hakan Cavus, Gil I. Wolfe, Joan Nye, Delphine Mahieu, Miguel Wilken, Markus Färkkilä, Catherine Faber, Erin Manning, Emiko Tsuda, Rami Massie, Paolo Emilio Alboini, Yasmeen Shabbir, Angela Campanella, Aikaterini Dimitriou, Marcelo Rugiero, Cynthia Bodkin, Gyorgyi Szabo, Sharon Halton, Akshay Shah, Yasuko Maeda, Hans D. Katzberg, Yagmur Caliskan, Jaimin Shah, Katsuhisa Masaki, Valentina Damato, Blanka Andersson, Aline de Cassia Santos, Masahiro Mori, Renato Mantegazza, Misa Shimpo, Joanne Nemeth, Livia Dezsi, Anna De Rosa, Doreen Ho, Julie Moutarde, Efstathia Mitropoulou, Amy Woodall, Angela Micheels, László Vécsei, Byoung Joon Kim, Lisa Smith, Tomihiro Imai, Harpreet Kaur, Lorenzo Maggi, Jane Distad, Anita Mogensen, Ericka Simpson, Anne Cooley, Eliana Reyes, Ha Young Shin, Da Yoon Koh, Stefan Gingele, Susan Strom, Ezgi Yilmaz, Manisha Chopra, Anna Melnikova, Edouard Millois, Ludwig Gutmann, Miriam Freimer, Hirokazu Shinozaki, Heena Olalde, Kerry Naunton, Shunya Nakane, Ihsan Sengun, Dimos-Dimitrios Mitsikostas, Edina Varga, Juha-Pekka Erälinna, Wolfgang Löscher, Jan De Bleecker, Elena Bravver, Ana Lazaro, Eun Bin Cho, Thomas Cochrane, Jonathan Goldstein, Lisa D. Hobson-Webb, Michaela Tyblova, Angela Marsil, J. Edward Hartmann, Miyuki Morikawa, Karen Zakalik, Claude Desnuelle, Iveta Novakova, Michiaki Koga, Melinda Horvath, Luiz Otavio Maia Gonçalves, Elena Cortes Vicente, Alejandro Tobon Gonzalez, Stanley H. Appel, Brian Minton, Daniele Orrico, Brian Droker, Jacob Kaufman, Erica Coelho, Chafic Karam, Mikko Laaksonen, Katherine Amato, Jinmyoung Seok, Natalia Prando, Pauline Lahaut, Kaori Osakada, Phillipa Lamont, Alexandros Tselis, Daiane da Cruz Pacheco, Joan Højgaard, Hirokazu Shiraishi, Josef Bednarik, Stefania Morino, Mark Levine-Weinberg, Sara-Claude Michon, Yusuke Fukuda, Michael Pulley, Koichi Narikawa, Ricardo Rojas Garcia, Betsy Mosmiller, James Gilchrist, Maria da Penha Morita Ananias, Maryanne Burdette, Shingo Konno, Janelle Butters, Stephan Wenninger, Debbie Davies, Thomas Skripuletz, Mohammad Alsharabati, Katarina Reguliova, Gabor Lovas, Yuichiro Gondo, Miju Shin, HyeLim Lee, Bruno Bezerra Rosa, Michael D. Weiss, Martha Zampaki, Andrea Caramma, Jeffrey V. Rosenfeld, Cigdem Ozen Aydin, Shara Holzberg, Hélène Merle, Olga Zapletalova, Kurt-Wolfram Suehs, Robert P. Lisak, Dale J. Lange, Albert Hietala, Sedat Sen, Elena Giacomelli, Akiyuki Uzawa, Tomás Augusto Suriane Fialho, Matteo Garibaldi, Nadia Sattar, Wai-Kuen Leong, Lindsay Kaplan, Tetsuya Kanai, Jaana Eriksson, Akiko Nagaishi, Khema Sharma, Tamar Gibson, Mohamed Kazamel, Yulia Nesterova, Sascha Alvermann, Murat Terzi, Taylor Darnell, Donna Carnes, Victor Balyazin, John T. Kissel, Waqar Waheed, Jana Junkerova, Kimberly Robeson, Nicholas Vlaikidis, Nicholas Silvestri, Fredrik Piehl, Maurício André Gheller Friedrich, Shun Shimohama, Nuria Vidal, Eleni Kasioti, H. James Jones, Michael K. Hehir, Luiz Augusto da Silva, Dave Watling, Leslie Roberts, Casey Faigle, Caroline Hourquin, Olli Oksaranta, Tomomi Imamura, Shin Hisahara, Dennis Jeffery, Marie-Hélène Soriani, M. Kawai, Chieko Yoshikawa, Roseann Keo, Angela Genge, Michelangelo Maestri Tassoni, Milvia Pleitez, Michael H. Rivner, Maki Jingu, Giorgia Puorro, Andrea Swenson, Saiju Jacob, Carolina Ortea, Shuichiro Suzuki, Marguerite Engel, Ikuko Kamegamori, SangAe Park, Guilhem Sole, Lesly Welsh, Nichole Gallatti, Jakit Gollogly, Daniel Jons, Yasuteru Sano, Takuya Matsushita, Omar Khan, Maria Cristina Gori, Thabata Veiga, Julie Agriesti, Jos Maessen, Sandra Guinrich, Francesca Bevilacqua, Laura Haar, Jordana Gonçalves Geraldo, Justin Y. Kwan, Hidekazu Suzuki, Dai Matsuse, Kelly Jia, Ozlem Tun, Lara Katzin, Yasushi Suzuki, Shannon Lucy, Carlo Antozzi, ANS - Neuroinfection & -inflammation, Neurology, Howard, James F, Utsugisawa, Kimiaki, Benatar, Michael, Murai, Hiroyuki, Barohn, Richard J, Illa, Isabel, Jacob, Saiju, Vissing, John, Burns, Ted M, Kissel, John T, Muppidi, Srikanth, Nowak, Richard J, O'Brien, Fanny, Wang, Jing-Jing, Mantegazza, Renato, Mazia, Claudio Gabriel, Wilken, Miguel, Ortea, Carolina, Saba, Juliet, Rugiero, Marcelo, Bettini, Mariela, Vidal, Gonzalo, Garcia, Alejandra Dalila, Lamont, Phillipa, Leong, Wai-Kuen, Boterhoven, Heidi, Fyfe, Beverly, Roberts, Leslie, Jasinarachchi, Mahi, Willlems, Natasha, Wanschitz, Julia, Löscher, Wolfgang, De Bleecker, Jan, Van den Abeele, Guy, de Koning, Kathy, De Mey, Katrien, Mercelis, Rudy, Wagemaekers, Linda, Mahieu, Delphine, Van Damme, Philip, Smetcoren, Charlotte, Stevens, Olivier, Verjans, Sarah, D'Hondt, Ann, Tilkin, Petra, Alves de Siqueira Carvalho, Alzira, Hasan, Rosa, Dias Brockhausen, Igor, Feder, David, Ambrosio, Daniel, Melo, Ana Paula, Rocha, Rosana, Rosa, Bruno, Veiga, Thabata, Augusto da Silva, Luiz, Gonçalves Geraldo, Jordana, da Penha Morita Ananias, Maria, Nogueira Coelho, Erica, Paiva, Gabriel, Pozo, Marina, Prando, Natalia, Dada Martineli Torres, Debora, Fernanda Butinhao, Cristiani, Coelho, Erica, Renata Cubas Volpe, Luciana, Duran, Gustavo, Gomes da Silva, Tamires Cristina, Otavio Maia Gonçalves, Luiz, Pazetto, Lucas Eduardo, Souza Duca, Luciana, Suriane Fialho, Tomás Augusto, Gheller Friedrich, Maurício André, Guerreiro, Alexandre, Mohr, Henrique, Pereira Martins, Maurer, da Cruz Pacheco, Daiane, Macagnan, Ana Paula, de Cassia Santos, Aline, Bulle Oliveira, Acary Souza, Amaral de Andrade, Ana Carolina, Annes, Marcelo, Cavalcante Lino, Valeria, Pinto, Wladimir, Miranda, Carolina, Carrara, Fernanda, Souza, Iandra, Genge, Angela, Massie, Rami, Campbell, Natasha, Bril, Vera, Katzberg, Han, Soltani, Mehran, Ng, Eduardo, 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Michel, Deruelle, Fabienne, Schoser, Benedikt, Wenninger, Stephan, Stangel, Martin, Alvermann, Sascha, Gingele, Stefan, Skripuletz, Thoma, Suehs, Kurt-Wolfram, Trebst, Corinna, Fricke, Karin, Papagiannopoulos, Sotirio, Bostantzopoulou, Sevasti, Vlaikidis, Nichola, Zampaki, Martha, Papadopoulou, Nikoletta, Mitsikostas, Dimos-Dimitrio, Kasioti, Eleni, Mitropoulou, Efstathia, Charalambous, Despoina, Rozsa, Csilla, Horvath, Melinda, Lovas, Gabor, Matolcsi, Judit, Szabo, Gyorgyi, Szabadosne, Brigitta, Vecsei, Laszlo, Dezsi, Livia, Varga, Edina, Konyane, Monika, Gross, Bella, Azrilin, Olga, Greenbereg, Nelly, Bali Kuperman, Hila, Antonini, Giovanni, Garibaldi, Matteo, Morino, Stefania, Troili, Fernanda, Di Pasquale, Antonella, Filla, Alessandro, Costabile, Teresa, Marano, Enrico, Sacca, Francesco, Marsili, Angela, Puorro, Giorgia, Maestri Tassoni, Michelangelo, De Rosa, Anna, Bonanno, Silvia, Antozzi, Carlo, Maggi, Lorenzo, Campanella, Angela, Angelini, Corrado, Cudia, Paola, Pegoraro, 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Edward, Quarles, Brandy, Smalley, Nicole, Amato, Anthony, Cochrane, Thoma, Salajegheh, Mohammed, Roe, Kristen, Amato, Katherine, Toska, Shirli, Wolfe, Gil, Silvestri, Nichola, Patrick, Kara, Zakalik, Karen, Katz, Jonathan, Miller, Robert, Engel, Marguerite, Bravver, Elena, Brooks, Benjamin, Plevka, Sarah, Burdette, Maryanne, Sanjak, Mohammad, Kramer, Megan, Nemeth, Joanne, Schommer, Clara, Juel, Vern, Guptill, Jeffrey, Hobson-Webb, Lisa, Beck, Kate, Carnes, Donna, Loor, John, Anderson, Amanda, Lange, Dale, Agopian, Eliz, Goldstein, Jonathan, Manning, Erin, Kaplan, Lindsay, Holzberg, Shara, Kassebaum, Nicole, Pascuzzi, Robert, Bodkin, Cynthia, Kincaid, John, Snook, Riley, Guinrich, Sandra, Micheels, Angela, Chaudhry, Vinay, Corse, Andrea, Mosmiller, Betsy, Ho, Doreen, Srinivasan, Jayashri, Vytopil, Michael, Ventura, Nichola, Scala, Stephanie, Carter, Cynthia, Donahue, Craig, Herbert, Carol, Weiner, Elaine, Mckinnon, Jonathan, Haar, Laura, Mckinnon, Naya, Alcon, Karan, Daniels, Kevin, Sattar, Nadia, Jeffery, Denni, Mckenna, Kaitlyn, Guidon, Amanda, David, William, Dheel, Christina, Levine-Weinberg, Mark, Nigro, Catherine, Simpson, Ericka, Appel, Stanley H, Lai, Eugene, Lay, Lui, Pleitez, Milvia, Halton, Sharon, Faigle, Casey, Thompson, Lisa, Sivak, Mark, Shin, Susan, Bratton, Joan, Jacobs, Daniel, Brown, Gavin, Bandukwala, Ibrez, Brown, Morri, Kane, Jennifer, Blount, Ira, Freimer, Miriam, Hoyle, J. 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Jame, Rosenfeld, Jeffrey, Garcia, Rebekah, Garcia, Sonia, Echevarria, Laura, Pulley, Michael, Aranke, Shachie, Berger, Alan Ro, Shah, Jaimin, Shabbir, Yasmeen, Smith, Lisa, Varghese, Mary, Gutmann, Laurie, Gutmann, Ludwig, Swenson, Andrea, Olalde, Heena, Hafer-Macko, Charlene, Kwan, Justin, Zilliox, Lindsay, Callison, Karen, Disanzo, Beth, Naunton, Kerry, Bilsker, Martin, Sharma, Khema, Reyes, Eliana, Cooley, Anne, Michon, Sara-Claude, Steele, Julie, Karam, Chafic Karam, Chopra, Manisha, Bird, Shawn, Kaufman, Jacob, Gallatti, Nichole, Vu, Tuan, Katzin, Lara, Mcclain, Terry, Harvey, Brittany, Hart, Adam, Huynh, Kristin, Beydoun, Said, Chilingaryan, Amaiak, Droker, Brian, Lin, Frank, Shah, Akshay, Tran, Anh, Akhter, Salma, Malekniazi, Ali, Tandan, Rup, Hehir, Michael, Waheed, Waqar, Lucy, Shannon, Weiss, Michael, Distad, Jane, Downing, Sharon, Strom, Susan, Lisak, Robert, Bernitsas, Evanthia, Khan, Omar, Kumar Sriwastava, Shitiz, Tselis, Alexandro, Jia, Kelly, Bertorini, Tulio, Arnold, Thoma, Henderson, Kendrick, Pillai, Rekha, Liu, Ye, Wheeler, Lauren, Hewlett, Jasmine, Vanderhook, Mollie, Dicapua, Daniel, Keung, Benison, Kumar, Aditya, Patwa, Huned, Robeson, Kimberly, Nye, Joan, Vu, Hong, Howard, J, Utsugisawa, K, Benatar, M, Murai, H, Barohn, R, Illa, I, Jacob, S, Vissing, J, Burns, T, Kissel, J, Muppidi, S, Nowak, R, O'Brien, F, Wang, J, Mantegazza, R, and Bonanno, S

Subjects
Male, 0301 basic medicine, medicine.medical_treatment, Drug Resistance, Adult, Aged, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, Autoantibodies, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Myasthenia Gravis, Receptors, Cholinergic, Outcome Assessment (Health Care), Severity of Illness Index, Neurology (clinical), law.invention, Complement inhibitor, 0302 clinical medicine, Randomized controlled trial, law, Monoclonal, Receptors, Clinical endpoint, Humanized, Cholinergic, education.field_of_study, Eculizumab, Autoantibodie, Myasthenia Gravi, Settore MED/26 - NEUROLOGIA, Human, medicine.drug, Meningitides, medicine.medical_specialty, Population, Placebo, Antibodies, 03 medical and health sciences, Internal medicine, medicine, education, business.industry, Surgery, Thymectomy, 030104 developmental biology, business, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Abstract

Background Complement is likely to have a role in refractory generalised myasthenia gravis, but no approved therapies specifically target this system. Results from a phase 2 study suggested that eculizumab, a terminal complement inhibitor, produced clinically meaningful improvements in patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive refractory generalised myasthenia gravis. We further assessed the efficacy and safety of eculizumab in this patient population in a phase 3 trial. Methods We did a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre study (REGAIN) in 76 hospitals and specialised clinics in 17 countries across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Eligible patients were aged at least 18 years, with a Myasthenia Gravis-Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) score of 6 or more, Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) class II-IV disease, vaccination against Neisseria meningitides, and previous treatment with at least two immunosuppressive therapies or one immunosuppressive therapy and chronic intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange for 12 months without symptom control. Patients with a history of thymoma or thymic neoplasms, thymectomy within 12 months before screening, or use of intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange within 4 weeks before randomisation, or rituximab within 6 months before screening, were excluded. We randomly assigned participants (1:1) to either intravenous eculizumab or intravenous matched placebo for 26 weeks. Dosing for eculizumab was 900 mg on day 1 and at weeks 1, 2, and 3; 1200 mg at week 4; and 1200 mg given every second week thereafter as maintenance dosing. Randomisation was done centrally with an interactive voice or web-response system with patients stratified to one of four groups based on MGFA disease classification. Where possible, patients were maintained on existing myasthenia gravis therapies and rescue medication was allowed at the study physician's discretion. Patients, investigators, staff, and outcome assessors were masked to treatment assignment. The primary efficacy endpoint was the change from baseline to week 26 in MG-ADL total score measured by worst-rank ANCOVA. The efficacy population set was defined as all patients randomly assigned to treatment groups who received at least one dose of study drug, had a valid baseline MG-ADL assessment, and at least one post-baseline MG-ADL assessment. The safety analyses included all randomly assigned patients who received eculizumab or placebo. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01997229. Findings Between April 30, 2014, and Feb 19, 2016, we randomly assigned and treated 125 patients, 62 with eculizumab and 63 with placebo. The primary analysis showed no significant difference between eculizumab and placebo (least-squares mean rank 56·6 [SEM 4·5] vs 68·3 [4·5]; rank-based treatment difference -11·7, 95% CI -24·3 to 0·96; p=0·0698). No deaths or cases of meningococcal infection occurred during the study. The most common adverse events in both groups were headache and upper respiratory tract infection (ten [16%] for both events in the eculizumab group and 12 [19%] for both in the placebo group). Myasthenia gravis exacerbations were reported by six (10%) patients in the eculizumab group and 15 (24%) in the placebo group. Six (10%) patients in the eculizumab group and 12 (19%) in the placebo group required rescue therapy. Interpretation The change in the MG-ADL score was not statistically significant between eculizumab and placebo, as measured by the worst-rank analysis. Eculizumab was well tolerated. The use of a worst-rank analytical approach proved to be an important limitation of this study since the secondary and sensitivity analyses results were inconsistent with the primary endpoint result; further research into the role of complement is needed. Funding Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

Published
2017
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46. COVID-19-associated risks and effects in myasthenia gravis (CARE-MG)

Author

Srikanth Muppidi, Jeffrey T Guptill, Saiju Jacob, Yingkai Li, Maria E Farrugia, Amanda C Guidon, Jinny O Tavee, Henry Kaminski, James F Howard, Gary Cutter, Heinz Wiendl, Matthew B Maas, Isabel Illa, Renato Mantegazza, Hiroyuki Murai, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Richard J Nowak, Alok Tyagi, Ana Paula Sousa, Anthony A Amato, Ashwin Pinto, Bhaskar Roy, Caroline Carmichael, Dubravka Dodig, Georgina Burke, Gary R Cutter, Henry J Kaminski, Ikjae Lee, Jeffrey Guptill, James F. Howard, James Caress, Jane Pritchard, John Vissing, Kamla Best, Mahtab Ramezani, Mathew Maas, Michael K Hehir, Michelle Kaku, Natalia Jiménez Esquivel, Paul Gallagher, Paul Maddison, Philip A Ambrose, Renato E Mantegazza, Rocio Vazquez Do Campo, Sami Saba, Shahriar Nafissi, Shannon Itoyama, Stuart Viegas Viegas, Victoria Marshall, and Yingkai Li Li

Subjects
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), SARS-CoV-2, business.industry, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Clinical Neurology, COVID-19, medicine.disease, Virology, Myasthenia gravis, Risk Factors, Correspondence, Myasthenia Gravis, medicine, Humans, Registries, Neurology (clinical), business
Published
2020
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47. Long-term efficacy and safety of eculizumab in Japanese patients with generalized myasthenia gravis: A subgroup analysis of the REGAIN open-label extension study

Author

Hiroyuki Murai, Akiyuki Uzawa, Yasushi Suzuki, Tomihiro Imai, Hirokazu Shiraishi, Hidekazu Suzuki, Meinoshin Okumura, Fanny O’Brien, Jing-Jing Wang, Kenji P. Fujita, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Claudio Gabriel Mazia, Miguel Wilken, Fabio Barroso, Juliet Saba, Marcelo Rugiero, Mariela Bettini, Marcelo Chaves, Gonzalo Vidal, Alejandra Dalila Garcia, Jan De Bleecker, Guy Van den Abeele, Kathy de Koning, Katrien De Mey, Rudy Mercelis, Délphine Mahieu, Linda Wagemaekers, Philip Van Damme, Annelies Depreitere, Caroline Schotte, Charlotte Smetcoren, Olivier Stevens, Sien Van Daele, Nicolas Vandenbussche, Annelies Vanhee, Sarah Verjans, Jan Vynckier, Ann D'Hondt, Petra Tilkin, Alzira Alves de Siqueira Carvalho, Igor Dias Brockhausen, David Feder, Daniel Ambrosio, Pamela César, Ana Paula Melo, Renata Martins Ribeiro, Rosana Rocha, Bruno Bezerra Rosa, Thabata Veiga, Luiz Augusto da Silva, Murilo Santos Engel, Jordana Gonçalves Geraldo, Maria da Penha Ananias Morita, Erica Nogueira Coelho, Gabriel Paiva, Marina Pozo, Natalia Prando, Debora Dada Martineli Torres, Cristiani Fernanda Butinhao, Gustavo Duran, Tamires Cristina Gomes da Silva, Luiz Otavio Maia Gonçalves, Lucas Eduardo Pazetto, Tomás Augusto Suriane Fialho, Luciana Renata Cubas Volpe, Luciana Souza Duca, Acary Souza Bulle Oliveira, Ana Carolina Amaral Andrade, Marcelo Annes, Liene Duarte Silva, Valeria Cavalcante Lino, Wladimir Pinto, Natália Assis, Fernanda Carrara, Carolina Miranda, Iandra Souza, Patricia Fernandes, Zaeem Siddiqi, Cecile Phan, Jeffrey Narayan, Derrick Blackmore, Ashley Mallon, Rikki Roderus, Elizabeth Watt, Jana Junkerova, Barbora Kurkova, Katarina Reguliova, Olga Zapletalova, Jiri Pitha, Iveta Novakova, Michaela Tyblova, Ivana Jurajdova, Marcela Wolfova, Henning Andersen, Thomas Harbo, Lotte Vinge, Susanne Krogh, Anita Mogensen, John Vissing, Joan Højgaard, Nanna Witting, Anne Mette Ostergaard Autzen, Jane Pedersen, Juha-Pekka Eralinna, Mikko Laaksonen, Olli Oksaranta, Tuula Harrison, Jaana Eriksson, Csilla Rozsa, Melinda Horvath, Gabor Lovas, Judit Matolcsi, Gyorgyi Szabo, Gedeonne Jakab, Brigitta Szabadosne, Giovanni Antonini, Antonella Di Pasquale, Matteo Garibaldi, Stefania Morino, Fernanda Troili, Laura Fionda, Allessandro Filla, Teresa Costabile, Enrico Marano, Francesco Saccà, Angiola Fasanaro, Angela Marsili, Giorgia Puorro, Renato Mantegazza, Carlo Antozzi, Silvia Bonanno, Giorgia Camera, Alberta Locatelli, Lorenzo Maggi, Maria Pasanisi, Angela Campanella, Amelia Evoli, Paolo Emilio Alboini, Valentina D'Amato, Raffaele Iorio, Tetsuya Kanai, Naoki Kawaguchi, Masahiro Mori, Yoko Kaneko, Akiko Kanzaki, Eri Kobayashi, Katsuhisa Masaki, Dai Matsuse, Takuya Matsushita, Taira Uehara, Misa Shimpo, Maki Jingu, Keiko Kikutake, Yumiko Nakamura, Yoshiko Sano, Yuriko Nagane, Ikuko Kamegamori, Tomoko Tsuda, Yuko Fujii, Kazumi Futono, Yukiko Ozawa, Aya Mizugami, Yuka Saito, Miyuki Morikawa, Makoto Samukawa, Sachiko Kamakura, Eriko Miyawaki, Teiichiro Mitazaki, Masakatsu Motomura, Akihiro Mukaino, Shunsuke Yoshimura, Shizuka Asada, Seiko Yoshida, Shoko Amamoto, Tomomi Kobashikawa, Megumi Koga, Yasuko Maeda, Kazumi Takada, Mihoko Takada, Masako Tsurumaru, Yumi Yamashita, Tetsuya Akiyama, Koichi Narikawa, Ohito Tano, Kenichi Tsukita, Rikako Kurihara, Fumie Meguro, Yusuke Fukuda, Miwako Sato, Soichiro Funaka, Tomohiro Kawamura, Masayuki Makamori, Masanori Takahashi, Namie Taichi, Tomoya Hasuike, Eriko Higuchi, Hisako Kobayashi, Kaori Osakada, Emiko Tsuda, Shun Shimohama, Takashi Hayashi, Shin Hisahara, Jun Kawamata, Takashi Murahara, Masaki Saitoh, Shuichiro Suzuki, Daisuke Yamamoto, Yoko Ishiyama, Naoko Ishiyama, Mayuko Noshiro, Rumi Takeyama, Kaori Uwasa, Ikuko Yasuda, Anneke van der Kooi, Marianne de Visser, Tamar Gibson, Carlos Casasnovas, Maria Antonia Alberti Aguilo, Christian Homedes-Pedret, Natalia Julia Palacios, Laura Diez Porras, Valentina Velez Santamaria, Ana Lazaro, Exuperio Diez Tejedor, Pilar Gomez Salcedo, Mireya Fernandez-Fournier, Pedro Lopez Ruiz, Francisco Javier Rodriguez de Rivera, Maria Sastre, Josep Gamez, Pilar Sune, Maria Salvado, Gisela Gili, Gonzalo Mazuela, Isabel Illa, Elena Cortes Vicente, Jordi Diaz-Manera, Luis Antonio Querol Gutierrez, Ricardo Rojas Garcia, Nuria Vidal, Elisabet Arribas-Ibar, Fredrik Piehl, Albert Hietala, Lena Bjarbo, Ihsan Sengun, Arzu Meherremova, Pinar Ozcelik, Bengu Balkan, Celal Tuga, Muzeyyen Ugur, Sevim Erdem-Ozdamar, Can Ebru Bekircan-Kurt, Nazire Pinar Acar, Ezgi Yilmaz, Yagmur Caliskan, Gulsah Orsel, Husnu Efendi, Seda Aydinlik, Hakan Cavus, Ayse Kutlu, Gulsah Becerikli, Cansu Semiz, Ozlem Tun, Murat Terzi, Baki Dogan, Musa Kazim Onar, Sedat Sen, Tugce Kirbas Cavdar, Adife Veske, Fiona Norwood, Aikaterini Dimitriou, Jakit Gollogly, Mohamed Mahdi-Rogers, Arshira Seddigh, Giannis Sokratous, Gal Maier, Faisal Sohail, Saiju Jacob, Girija Sadalage, Pravin Torane, Claire Brown, Amna Shah, Sivakumar Sathasivam, Heike Arndt, Debbie Davies, Dave Watling, Anthony Amato, Thomas Cochrane, Mohammed Salajegheh, Kristen Roe, Katherine Amato, Shirli Toska, Gil Wolfe, Nicholas Silvestri, Kara Patrick, Karen Zakalik, Jonathan Katz, Robert Miller, Marguerite Engel, Dallas Forshew, Elena Bravver, Benjamin Brooks, Sarah Plevka, Maryanne Burdette, Scott Cunningham, Mohammad Sanjak, Megan Kramer, Joanne Nemeth, Clara Schommer, Scott Tierney, Vern Juel, Jeffrey Guptill, Lisa Hobson-Webb, Janice Massey, Kate Beck, Donna Carnes, John Loor, Amanda Anderson, Robert Pascuzzi, Cynthia Bodkin, John Kincaid, Riley Snook, Sandra Guingrich, Angela Micheels, Vinay Chaudhry, Andrea Corse, Betsy Mosmiller, Andrea Kelley, Doreen Ho, Jayashri Srinivasan, Michal Vytopil, Jordan Jara, Nicholas Ventura, Stephanie Scala, Cynthia Carter, Craig Donahue, Carol Herbert, Elaine Weiner, Sharmeen Alam, Jonathan McKinnon, Laura Haar, Naya McKinnon, Karan Alcon, Kaitlyn McKenna, Nadia Sattar, Kevin Daniels, Dennis Jeffery, Miriam Freimer, Joseph Chad Hoyle, John Kissel, Julie Agriesti, Sharon Chelnick, Louisa Mezache, Colleen Pineda, Filiz Muharrem, Chafic Karam, Julie Khoury, Tessa Marburger, Harpreet Kaur, Diana Dimitrova, James Gilchrist, Brajesh Agrawal, Mona Elsayed, Stephanie Kohlrus, Angela Andoin, Taylor Darnell, Laura Golden, Barbara Lokaitis, Jenna Seelback, Srikanth Muppidi, Neelam Goyal, Sarada Sakamuri, Yuen T. So, Shirley Paulose, Sabrina Pol, Lesly Welsh, Ratna Bhavaraju-Sanka, Alejandro Tobon Gonzales, Lorraine Dishman, Floyd Jones, Anna Gonzalez, Patricia Padilla, Amy Saklad, Marcela Silva, Mohamed Kazamel, Mohammad Alsharabati, Liang Lu, Kenkichi Nozaki, Sandi Mumfrey-Thomas, Amy Woodall, Tahseen Mozaffar, Tiyonnoh Cash, Namita Goyal, Gulmohor Roy, Veena Mathew, Fatima Maqsood, Brian Minton, H. James Jones, Jeffrey Rosenfeld, Rebekah Garcia, Laura Echevarria, Sonia Garcia, Michael Pulley, Shachie Aranke, Alan Ross Berger, Jaimin Shah, Yasmeen Shabbir, Lisa Smith, Mary Varghese, Laurie Gutmann, Ludwig Gutmann, Nivedita Jerath, Christopher Nance, Andrea Swenson, Heena Olalde, Nicole Kressin, Jeri Sieren, Richard Barohn, Mazen Dimachkie, Melanie Glenn, April McVey, Mamatha Pasnoor, Jeffery Statland, Yunxia Wang, Tina Liu, Kelley Emmons, Nicole Jenci, Jerry Locheke, Alex Fondaw, Kathryn Johns, Gabrielle Rico, Maureen Walsh, Laura Herbelin, Charlene Hafer-Macko, Justin Kwan, Lindsay Zilliox, Karen Callison, Valerie Young, Beth DiSanzo, Kerry Naunton, Michael Benatar, Martin Bilsker, Khema Sharma, Anne Cooley, Eliana Reyes, Sara-Claude Michon, Danielle Sheldon, Julie Steele, James Howard Jr, Manisha Chopra, Rebecca Traub, Tuan Vu, Lara Katzin, Terry McClain, Brittany Harvey, Adam Hart, Kristin Huynh, Said Beydoun, Amaiak Chilingaryan, Victor Doan, Brian Droker, Hui Gong, Sanaz Karimi, Frank Lin, Krishna Pokala, Akshay Shah, Anh Tran, Salma Akhter, Ali Malekniazi, Rup Tandan, Michael Hehir, Waqar Waheed, Shannon Lucy, Michael Weiss, Jane Distad, Susan Strom, Sharon Downing, Bryan Kim, Richard Nowak, Daniel Dicapua, Benison Keung, Aditya Kumar, Huned Patwa, Kimberly Robeson, Irene Yang, Joan Nye, Hong Vu, H., Murai, A., Uzawa, Y., Suzuki, T., Imai, H., Shiraishi, H., Suzuki, M., Okumura, F., O'Brien, J. -J., Wang, K. P., Fujita, K., Utsugisawa, Gabriel Mazia 11, Claudio, Wilken 11, Miguel, Barroso 11, Fabio, Saba 11, Juliet, Rugiero 12, Marcelo, Bettini 12, Mariela, Chaves 12, Marcelo, Vidal 12, Gonzalo, Dalila Garcia 12, Alejandra, De Bleecker 13, Jan, Van den Abeele 13, Guy, de Koning 13, Kathy, De Mey 13, Katrien, Mercelis 14, Rudy, Mahieu 14, Délphine, Wagemaekers 14, Linda, Van Damme 15, Philip, Depreitere 16, Annelie, Schotte 16, Caroline, Smetcoren 16, Charlotte, Stevens 16, Olivier, Van Daele 16, Sien, Vandenbussche 16, Nicola, Vanhee 16, Annelie, Verjans 16, Sarah, Vynckier 16, Jan, D'Hondt 16, Ann, Tilkin 16, Petra, Alves de Siqueira Carvalho 17, Alzira, Dias Brockhausen 17, Igor, Feder 17, David, Ambrosio 17, Daniel, César 17, Pamela, Paula Melo 17, Ana, Martins Ribeiro 17, Renata, Rocha 17, Rosana, Bezerra Rosa 17, Bruno, Veiga 17, Thabata, Augusto da Silva 17, Luiz, Santos Engel 17, Murilo, Gonçalves Geraldo 17, Jordana, da Penha Ananias Morita 18, Maria, Nogueira Coelho 18, Erica, Paiva 18, Gabriel, Pozo 18, Marina, Prando 18, Natalia, Dada Martineli Torres 18, Debora, Fernanda Butinhao 18, Cristiani, Duran 18, Gustavo, Cristina Gomes da Silva 18, Tamire, Otavio Maia Gonçalves 18, Luiz, Eduardo Pazetto 18, Luca, Augusto Suriane Fialho 18, Tomá, Renata Cubas Volpe 18, Luciana, Souza Duca 18, Luciana, Souza Bulle Oliveira 19, Acary, Carolina Amaral Andrade 19, Ana, Annes 19, Marcelo, Duarte Silva 19, Liene, Cavalcante Lino 19, Valeria, Pinto 19, Wladimir, Assis 19, Natália, Carrara 19, Fernanda, Miranda 19, Carolina, Souza 19, Iandra, Fernandes 19, Patricia, Siddiqi 20, Zaeem, Phan 20, Cecile, Narayan 20, Jeffrey, Blackmore 20, Derrick, Mallon 20, Ashley, Roderus 20, Rikki, Watt 20, Elizabeth, Junkerova 21, Jana, Kurkova 21, Barbora, Reguliova 21, Katarina, Zapletalova 21, Olga, Pitha 22, Jiri, Novakova 22, Iveta, Tyblova 22, Michaela, Jurajdova 22, Ivana, Wolfova 22, Marcela, Andersen 23, Henning, Harbo 23, Thoma, Vinge 23, Lotte, Krogh 23, Susanne, Mogensen 23, Anita, Vissing 24, John, Højgaard 24, Joan, Witting 24, Nanna, Mette Ostergaard Autzen 24, Anne, Pedersen 24, Jane, Eralinna 25, Juha-Pekka, Laaksonen 25, Mikko, Oksaranta 25, Olli, Harrison 25, Tuula, Eriksson 25, Jaana, Rozsa 26, Csilla, Horvath 26, Melinda, Lovas 26, Gabor, Matolcsi 26, Judit, Szabo 26, Gyorgyi, Jakab 26, Gedeonne, Szabadosne 26, Brigitta, Antonini 27, Giovanni, Di Pasquale 27, Antonella, Garibaldi 27, Matteo, Morino 27, Stefania, Troili 27, Fernanda, Fionda 27, Laura, Filla, Allessandro, Costabile, Teresa, Marano, Enrico, Sacca', Francesco, Fasanaro, Angiola, Marsili, Angela, Puorro, Giorgia, Mantegazza 29, Renato, Antozzi 29, Carlo, Bonanno 29, Silvia, Camera 29, Giorgia, Locatelli 29, Alberta, Maggi 29, Lorenzo, Pasanisi 29, Maria, Campanella 29, Angela, Evoli 30, Amelia, Emilio Alboini 30, Paolo, D'Amato 30, Valentina, Iorio 30, Raffaele, Kanai 31, Tetsuya, Kawaguchi 31, Naoki, Mori 31, Masahiro, Kaneko 31, Yoko, Kanzaki 31, Akiko, Kobayashi 31, Eri, Masaki 32, Katsuhisa, Matsuse 32, Dai, Matsushita 32, Takuya, Uehara 32, Taira, Shimpo 32, Misa, Jingu 32, Maki, Kikutake 32, Keiko, Nakamura 32, Yumiko, Sano 32, Yoshiko, Nagane 33, Yuriko, Kamegamori 33, Ikuko, Tsuda 33, Tomoko, Fujii 33, Yuko, Futono 33, Kazumi, Ozawa 33, Yukiko, Mizugami 33, Aya, Saito 33, Yuka, Morikawa 34, Miyuki, Samukawa 34, Makoto, Kamakura 34, Sachiko, Miyawaki 34, Eriko, Mitazaki 35, Teiichiro, Motomura 35, Masakatsu, Mukaino 35, Akihiro, Yoshimura 35, Shunsuke, Asada 35, Shizuka, Yoshida 35, Seiko, Amamoto 35, Shoko, Kobashikawa 35, Tomomi, Koga 35, Megumi, Maeda 35, Yasuko, Takada 35, Kazumi, Takada 35, Mihoko, Tsurumaru 35, Masako, Yamashita 35, Yumi, Akiyama 36, Tetsuya, Narikawa 36, Koichi, Tano 36, Ohito, Tsukita 36, Kenichi, Kurihara 36, Rikako, Meguro 36, Fumie, Fukuda 36, Yusuke, Sato 36, Miwako, Funaka 37, Soichiro, Kawamura 37, Tomohiro, Makamori 37, Masayuki, Takahashi 37, Masanori, Taichi 37, Namie, Hasuike 37, Tomoya, Higuchi 37, Eriko, Kobayashi 37, Hisako, Osakada 37, Kaori, Tsuda 38, Emiko, Shimohama 38, Shun, Hayashi 38, Takashi, Hisahara 38, Shin, Kawamata 38, Jun, Murahara 38, Takashi, Saitoh 38, Masaki, Suzuki 38, Shuichiro, Yamamoto 38, Daisuke, Ishiyama 38, Yoko, Ishiyama 38, Naoko, Noshiro 38, Mayuko, Takeyama 38, Rumi, Uwasa 38, Kaori, Yasuda 38, Ikuko, van der Kooi 39, Anneke, de Visser 39, Marianne, Gibson 39, Tamar, Casasnovas 40, Carlo, Antonia Alberti Aguilo 40, Maria, Homedes-Pedret 40, Christian, Julia Palacios 40, Natalia, Diez Porras 40, Laura, Velez Santamaria 40, Valentina, Lazaro 40, Ana, Diez Tejedor 41, Exuperio, Gomez Salcedo 41, Pilar, Fernandez-Fournier 41, Mireya, Lopez Ruiz 41, Pedro, Javier Rodriguez de Rivera 41, Francisco, Sastre 41, Maria, Gamez 42, Josep, Sune 42, Pilar, Salvado 42, Maria, Gili 42, Gisela, Mazuela 42, Gonzalo, Illa 43, Isabel, Cortes Vicente 43, Elena, Diaz-Manera 43, Jordi, Antonio Querol Gutierrez 43, Lui, Rojas Garcia 43, Ricardo, Vidal 43, Nuria, Arribas-Ibar 43, Elisabet, Piehl 44, Fredrik, Hietala 44, Albert, Bjarbo 44, Lena, Sengun 45, Ihsan, Meherremova 45, Arzu, Ozcelik 45, Pinar, Balkan 45, Bengu, Tuga 45, Celal, Ugur 45, Muzeyyen, Erdem-Ozdamar 46, Sevim, Ebru Bekircan-Kurt 46, Can, Pinar Acar 46, Nazire, Yilmaz 46, Ezgi, Caliskan 46, Yagmur, Orsel 46, Gulsah, Efendi 47, Husnu, Aydinlik 47, Seda, Cavus 47, Hakan, Kutlu 47, Ayse, Becerikli 47, Gulsah, Semiz 47, Cansu, Tun 47, Ozlem, Terzi 48, Murat, Dogan 48, Baki, Kazim Onar 48, Musa, Sen 48, Sedat, Kirbas Cavdar 48, Tugce, Veske 48, Adife, Norwood 49, Fiona, Dimitriou 49, Aikaterini, Gollogly 49, Jakit, Mahdi-Rogers 49, Mohamed, Seddigh 49, Arshira, Sokratous 49, Gianni, Maier 49, Gal, Sohail 49, Faisal, Jacob 50, Saiju, Sadalage 50, Girija, Torane 50, Pravin, Brown 50, Claire, Shah 50, Amna, Sathasivam 51, Sivakumar, Arndt 51, Heike, Davies 51, Debbie, Watling 51, Dave, Amato 52, Anthony, Cochrane 52, Thoma, Salajegheh 52, Mohammed, Roe 52, Kristen, Amato 52, Katherine, Toska 52, Shirli, Wolfe 53, Gil, Silvestri 53, Nichola, Patrick 53, Kara, Zakalik 53, Karen, Katz 54, Jonathan, Miller 54, Robert, Engel 54, Marguerite, Forshew 54, Dalla, Bravver 55, Elena, Brooks 55, Benjamin, Plevka 55, Sarah, Burdette 55, Maryanne, Cunningham 55, Scott, Sanjak 55, Mohammad, Kramer 55, Megan, Nemeth 55, Joanne, Schommer 55, Clara, Tierney 55, Scott, Juel 56, Vern, Guptill 56, Jeffrey, Hobson-Webb 56, Lisa, Massey 56, Janice, Beck 56, Kate, Carnes 56, Donna, Loor 56, John, Anderson 56, Amanda, Pascuzzi 57, Robert, Bodkin 57, Cynthia, Kincaid 57, John, Snook 57, Riley, Guingrich 57, Sandra, Micheels 57, Angela, Chaudhry 58, Vinay, Corse 58, Andrea, Mosmiller 58, Betsy, Kelley 58, Andrea, Ho 59, Doreen, Srinivasan 59, Jayashri, Vytopil 59, Michal, Jara 59, Jordan, Ventura 59, Nichola, Scala 59, Stephanie, Carter 59, Cynthia, Donahue 59, Craig, Herbert 59, Carol, Weiner 59, Elaine, Alam 59, Sharmeen, McKinnon 60, Jonathan, Haar 60, Laura, McKinnon 60, Naya, Alcon 60, Karan, McKenna 60, Kaitlyn, Sattar 60, Nadia, Daniels 60, Kevin, Jeffery 60, Denni, Freimer 61, Miriam, Chad Hoyle 61, Joseph, Kissel 61, John, Agriesti 61, Julie, Chelnick 61, Sharon, Mezache 61, Louisa, Pineda 61, Colleen, Muharrem 61, Filiz, Karam 62, Chafic, Khoury 62, Julie, Marburger 62, Tessa, Kaur 62, Harpreet, Dimitrova 62, Diana, Gilchrist 63, Jame, Agrawal 63, Brajesh, Elsayed 63, Mona, Kohlrus 63, Stephanie, Andoin 63, Angela, Darnell 63, Taylor, Golden 63, Laura, Lokaitis 63, Barbara, Seelback 63, Jenna, Muppidi 64, Srikanth, Goyal 64, Neelam, Sakamuri 64, Sarada, T So 64, Yuen, Paulose 64, Shirley, Pol 64, Sabrina, Welsh 64, Lesly, Bhavaraju-Sanka 65, Ratna, Tobon Gonzales 65, Alejandro, Dishman 65, Lorraine, Jones 65, Floyd, Gonzalez 65, Anna, Padilla 65, Patricia, Saklad 65, Amy, Silva 65, Marcela, Kazamel 66, Mohamed, Alsharabati 66, Mohammad, Lu 66, Liang, Nozaki 66, Kenkichi, Mumfrey-Thomas 66, Sandi, Woodall 66, Amy, Mozaffar 67, Tahseen, Cash 67, Tiyonnoh, Goyal 67, Namita, Roy 67, Gulmohor, Mathew 67, Veena, Maqsood 67, Fatima, Minton 67, Brian, James Jones 68, H, Rosenfeld 68, Jeffrey, Garcia 68, Rebekah, Echevarria 68, Laura, Garcia 68, Sonia, Pulley 69, Michael, Aranke 69, Shachie, Ross Berger 69, Alan, Shah 69, Jaimin, Shabbir 69, Yasmeen, Smith 69, Lisa, Varghese 69, Mary, Gutmann 70, Laurie, Gutmann 70, Ludwig, Jerath 70, Nivedita, Nance 70, Christopher, Swenson 70, Andrea, Olalde 70, Heena, Kressin 70, Nicole, Sieren 70, Jeri, Barohn 71, Richard, Dimachkie 71, Mazen, Glenn 71, Melanie, McVey 71, April, Pasnoor 71, Mamatha, Statland 71, Jeffery, Wang 71, Yunxia, Liu 71, Tina, Emmons 71, Kelley, Jenci 71, Nicole, Locheke 71, Jerry, Fondaw 71, Alex, Johns 71, Kathryn, Rico 71, Gabrielle, Walsh 71, Maureen, Herbelin 71, Laura, Hafer-Macko 72, Charlene, Kwan 72, Justin, Zilliox 72, Lindsay, Callison 72, Karen, Young 72, Valerie, DiSanzo 72, Beth, Naunton 72, Kerry, Benatar 73, Michael, Bilsker 73, Martin, Sharma 73, Khema, Cooley 73, Anne, Reyes 73, Eliana, Michon 73, Sara-Claude, Sheldon 73, Danielle, Steele 73, Julie, Howard Jr 74, Jame, Karam 74, Chafic, Chopra 74, Manisha, Traub 74, Rebecca, Vu 75, Tuan, Katzin 75, Lara, McClain 75, Terry, Harvey 75, Brittany, Hart 75, Adam, Huynh 75, Kristin, Beydoun 76, Said, Chilingaryan 76, Amaiak, Doan 76, Victor, Droker 76, Brian, Gong 76, Hui, Karimi 76, Sanaz, Lin 76, Frank, McClain 76, Terry, Pokala 76, Krishna, Shah 76, Akshay, Tran 76, Anh, Akhter 76, Salma, Malekniazi 76, Ali, Tandan 77, Rup, Hehir 77, Michael, Waheed 77, Waqar, Lucy 77, Shannon, Weiss 78, Michael, Distad 78, Jane, Strom 78, Susan, Downing 78, Sharon, Kim 78, Bryan, Nowak 79, Richard, Dicapua 79, Daniel, Keung 79, Benison, Kumar 79, Aditya, Patwa 79, Huned, Robeson 79, Kimberly, Yang 79, Irene, Nye 79, Joan, and Hong Vu

Subjects
Male, Pediatrics, Myasthenia gravi, Open-label extension study, Complement inhibitor, 0302 clinical medicine, Quality of life, Japan, Medicine and Health Sciences, Medicine, 030212 general & internal medicine, Myasthenia gravis, education.field_of_study, MG-ADL, Japanese patient, Eculizumab, Middle Aged, HLA, MG-QoL15, Treatment Outcome, Neurology, Female, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, COMPLEMENT INHIBITOR ECULIZUMAB, medicine.drug, Adult, medicine.medical_specialty, Population, Clinical Neurology, Subgroup analysis, Placebo, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, 03 medical and health sciences, Refractory, Asian People, Myasthenia Gravis, Humans, education, Aged, Science & Technology, business.industry, Neurosciences, medicine.disease, Complement Inactivating Agents, Japanese patients, ONSET, Neurology (clinical), Neurosciences & Neurology, business, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Abstract

The terminal complement inhibitor eculizumab was shown to improve myasthenia gravis-related symptoms in the 26-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled REGAIN study (NCT01997229). In this 52-week sub-analysis of the open-label extension of REGAIN (NCT02301624), eculizumab's efficacy and safety were assessed in 11 Japanese and 88 Caucasian patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive refractory generalized myasthenia gravis. For patients who had received placebo during REGAIN, treatment with open-label eculizumab resulted in generally similar outcomes in the Japanese and Caucasian populations. Rapid improvements were maintained for 52 weeks, assessed by change in score from open-label extension baseline to week 52 (mean [standard error]) using the following scales (in Japanese and Caucasian patients, respectively): Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living (-2.4 [1.34] and - 3.3 [0.65]); Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (-2.9 [1.98] and - 4.3 [0.79]); Myasthenia Gravis Composite (-4.5 [2.63] and - 4.9 [1.19]); and Myasthenia Gravis Quality of Life 15-item questionnaire (-8.6 [5.68] and - 6.5 [1.93]). Overall, the safety of eculizumab was consistent with its known safety profile. In this interim sub-analysis, the efficacy and safety of eculizumab in Japanese and Caucasian patients were generally similar, and consistent with the overall REGAIN population. ispartof: JOURNAL OF THE NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES vol:407 ispartof: location:Netherlands status: published

Published
2019

48. International clinimetric evaluation of the MG-QOL15, resulting in slight revision and subsequent validation of the MG-QOL15r

Author

Gil I. Wolfe, Reza Sadjadi, Kelly G. Gwathmey, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Changyi Ou, Shahriar Nafissi, Vera Bril, Karissa L. Gable, Masayuki Masuda, Amruta Joshi, Carolina Barnett, Jean-Yves Hogrel, Vern C. Juel, Caroline Carmichael, Hiroyuki Murai, Donald B. Sanders, Nicholas Silvestri, Janice M. Massey, Gary Cutter, Sarah M. Jones, Weibin Liu, Maria Elena Farrugia, Yuriko Nagane, Simone Birnbaum, Mark R. Conaway, Lisa D. Hobson-Webb, Farzad Fatehi, Jeffrey T. Guptill, and Ted M. Burns

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, Rasch model, Psychometrics, Physiology, business.industry, Person location, Quality of life scale, 03 medical and health sciences, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Mg qol15, 030104 developmental biology, 0302 clinical medicine, Physical medicine and rehabilitation, Disease severity, Quality of life, Physiology (medical), medicine, Physical therapy, Neurology (clinical), Hrqol instrument, business, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Abstract

Introduction The MG-QOL15 is a validated, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measure for myasthenia gravis (MG). Widespread use of the scale gave us the opportunity to further analyze its clinimetric properties. Methods We first performed Rasch analysis on >1,300 15-item Myasthenia Gravis Quality of Life scale (MG-QOL15) completed surveys. Results were discussed during a conference call with specialists and biostatisticians. We decided to revise 3 items and prospectively evaluate the revised scale (MG-QOL15r) using either 3, 4, or 5 responses. Rasch analysis was then performed on >1,300 MG-QOL15r scales. Results The MGQOL15r performed slightly better than the MG-QOL15. The 3-response option MG-QOL15r demonstrated better clinimetric properties than the 4- or 5-option scales. Relative distributions of item and person location estimates showed good coverage of disease severity. Conclusions The MG-QOL15r is now the preferred HRQOL instrument for MG because of improved clinimetrics and ease of use. This revision does not negate previous studies or interpretations of results using the MG-QOL15. Muscle Nerve 54: 1015-1022, 2016.

Published
2016
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49. Guidance for the management of myasthenia gravis (MG) and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author

Amanda C. Guidon, Srikanth Muppidi, James F. Howard, Isabel Illa, Hiroyuki Murai, Michael K. Hehir, Saiju Jacob, Jeffrey T. Guptill, Heinz Wiendl, Richard Nowak, John Vissing, Kimiaki Utsugisawa, and Renato Mantegazza

Subjects
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak, Pediatrics, medicine.medical_specialty, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Pneumonia, Viral, Clinical Neurology, Betacoronavirus, Disease susceptibility, Myasthenia Gravis, Pandemic, medicine, Humans, Immunologic Factors, Pandemics, Clinical Trials as Topic, Vaccines, Plasma Exchange, SARS-CoV-2, business.industry, COVID-19, Disease Management, Immunoglobulins, Intravenous, medicine.disease, Myasthenia gravis, COVID-19 Drug Treatment, Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome, Neurology, Disease Susceptibility, Immunotherapy, Neurology (clinical), Coronavirus Infections, business, Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, Immunosuppressive Agents
Published
2020
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50. Development of a novel immunoassay to select antibodies against intact membrane antigens by using the homogeneous AlphaLISA system

Author

Kimiaki Utsugisawa, Tomohiro Makino, Masato Hoshino, Satoshi Muneoka, and Ryuichi Nakamura

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, Immunoassay, biology, medicine.diagnostic_test, Chemistry, Bioengineering, Receptors, Nicotinic, Ligand (biochemistry), Bungarotoxins, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Antibodies, 03 medical and health sciences, Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, 030104 developmental biology, Membrane protein, Antigen, Biochemistry, biology.protein, medicine, Humans, Antibody, Receptor, Ion channel, Biotechnology
Abstract

Membrane proteins, such as G-protein-coupled receptors and ion channels are attractive targets for antibody-based therapeutics as pharmaceutical and biotech companies have increasingly moved their attention to biologics. However, lack of appropriate screening systems to correctly detect specific antibodies against membrane proteins has hampered antibody discovery and development so far. In the present study, we described the development of a novel high-throughput immunoassay platform based on AlphaLISA to screen antibodies against intact membrane proteins, taking nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), one of the best-known ion channel membrane proteins, as an example. By using signal transfer between α-bungarotoxin, the ligand of the receptor, conjugated with donor beads, and anti-nAChR antibodies (mAb35 and mAb210) with acceptor beads, we could detect strong and specific signals, directly from the homogenates of cells expressing nAChR. Using this platform, we isolated a new human IgG antibody against nAChR in a high-throughput manner. This methodology can be applied for the discovery of antibodies against other types of membrane proteins.

Published
2018

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