Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2020
Relationship between smoking and ALS: Mendelian randomisation interrogation of causality.
Smoking has been widely studied as a susceptibility factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but results are conflicting and at risk of confounding bias. We used the results of recently published large genome-wide association studies and Mendelian randomisation methods to reduce confounding to assess the relationship between smoking and ALS. ⋯ Using multiple methods, large sample sizes and sensitivity analyses, we find no evidence with Mendelian randomisation techniques that smoking causes ALS. Other smoking phenotypes, such as current smoking, may be suitable for future Mendelian randomisation studies.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2020
Clinical effectiveness of different natalizumab interval dosing schedules in a large Italian population of patients with multiple sclerosis.
Natalizumab (NTZ) is one of the most effective treatment options for multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment. Our study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of NTZ when administered according to the extended dosing strategy compared with standard 4-weekly administration in a large Italian MS population. ⋯ The use of NTZ with an extended interval schedule showed similar effectiveness compared with SID. Unchanged clinical efficacy of EID schedule may raise the question of a possible advantage in terms of tolerability and safety.