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Anat Achiron, MD, PhD; Elon Pras, MD; R. Gilad, MD; Ilan Ziv, MD; Mathilda Mandel, MD; Carlos R. Gordon, MD, PhD; Shlomo Noy, MD; Ida Sarova-Pinhas, MD; Eldad Melamed, MD

Arch Neurol. 1992;49(12):1233-1236.

Abstract
• Ten patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis were treated with intravenous immune globulin, 0.4 g/kg per day for 5 consecutive days, and then with additional booster doses of immune globulin of 0.4 g/kg, once every 2 months, for the next 12 months. Ten untreated patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis who were matched with the study patients for age, disease duration, and number of attacks per year served as controls. Immune globulin treatment was well tolerated, with no side effects. The exacerbation rate decreased from 3.7±1.2 exacerbations per year before treatment to 1.0±0.7 exacerbations per year during the treatment in the immune globulin-treated patients, while it remained unaltered in the controls. The posttreatment Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale score decreased from a mean of 4.45 to 4.15, whereas in controls it increased from 3.55 to 3.75. The results suggest that immune globulin suppresses the ongoing pathologic process in multiple sclerosis and may be a promising treatment to prevent disease exacerbations.

Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Neurology (Drs Achiron, Ziv, Gordon, and Melamed) and Internal Medicine (Dr Pras), Beilinson Medical Center, Petah-Tiqva, Israel; Department of Neurology, Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, Israel (Drs Gilad and Sarova-Pinhas); Hematology Institute, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel (Dr Mandel); and Tel-Aviv (Israel) Medical Health Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University (Dr Noy).

Footnotes
Accepted for publication June 10, 1992.

Reprint requests to Department of Neurology, Beilinson Medical Center, Petah-Tiqva, 49100, Israel (Dr Achiron).

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