Long term treatment with azathioprine in multiple sclerosis patients

Abstract

Based upon much clinical and experimental data demonstrating an enhanced immunological response in multiple sclerosis, especially inside the CNS, attempts have been made to influence the disease process by immunosuppressive agents. The substance most frequently used was azathioprine. The results of this treatment were not judged unequivocally. One obvious impression from the literature is that most uncontrolled studies, where only in the treated patients the course under therapy was compared with that before treatment, gave rather impressive results, often in spite of comparatively short periods of treatment. The most frequent finding was a substantial reduction of the relapse rate. In some studies, some effect of azathioprine was also described in chronic progressive cases by demonstrating a comparatively high proportion of cases with a stable course under therapy, but this proportion decreased with the length of follow-up.