Objective: To compare the efficacy and the risk of severe infectious events of immunosuppressive agents used early as first-line therapy in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).
Methods: We retrospectively included patients with NMOSD and a seropositive status for aquaporin 4 or myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies beginning first-line immunosuppressants within 3 years after the disease onset. The main outcome was occurrence of relapse after the initiation of immunosuppressants; the secondary outcome was the annual relapse rate (AAR).
Results: A total of 136 patients were included: 62 (45.6%) were treated with rituximab (RTX), 42 (30.9%) with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), and 23 (16.9%) with azathioprine (AZA). Compared with RTX-treated patients, the risk of relapse was higher among MMF-treated patients (hazard ratio [HR], 2.74 [1.17-6.40]; p = 0.020) after adjusting for age at disease onset, sex, antibody status, disease duration, ARR before treatment, corticosteroid intake, and relapse location. We did not observe any difference between RTX-treated and AZA-treated patients (HR, 2.13 [0.72-6.28]; p = 0.17). No interaction was found between the antibody status and immunosuppressive treatments. ARR was lower with RTX than with MMF (p = 0.039), but no difference was observed with AZA. We observed 9 serious infectious events with MMF, 6 with RTX, and none with AZA.
Conclusions: The use of first-line RTX in NMOSD appears more effective than MMF in suppressing clinical activity, independent of the antibody status.
Classification of evidence: That study provides Class III evidence that for patients with NMOSD, first-line RTX is superior to MMF to reduce the risk of relapse.
© 2020 American Academy of Neurology.