Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Professor Michela GuglieriORCiD, Dr John Bourke, Professor Volker StraubORCiD, Emerita Professor Katherine Bushby
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
BACKGROUND: We report clinical safety and biochemical efficacy from a dose-ranging study of intravenously administered AVI-4658 phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. METHOD: We undertook an open-label, phase 2, dose-escalation study (0·5, 1·0, 2·0, 4·0, 10·0, and 20·0 mg/kg bodyweight) in ambulant patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy aged 5-15 years with amenable deletions in DMD. Participants had a muscle biopsy before starting treatment and after 12 weekly intravenous infusions of AVI-4658. The primary study objective was to assess safety and tolerability of AVI-4658. The secondary objectives were pharmacokinetic properties and the ability of AVI-4658 to induce exon 51 skipping and dystrophin restoration by RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, and immunoblotting. The study is registered, number NCT00844597. FINDINGS: 19 patients took part in the study. AVI-4658 was well tolerated with no drug-related serious adverse events. AVI-4658 induced exon 51 skipping in all cohorts and new dystrophin protein expression in a significant dose-dependent (p=0·0203), but variable, manner in boys from cohort 3 (dose 2 mg/kg) onwards. Seven patients responded to treatment, in whom mean dystrophin fluorescence intensity increased from 8·9% (95% CI 7·1-10·6) to 16·4% (10·8-22·0) of normal control after treatment (p=0·0287). The three patients with the greatest responses to treatment had 21%, 15%, and 55% dystrophin-positive fibres after treatment and these findings were confirmed with western blot, which showed an increase after treatment of protein levels from 2% to 18%, from 0·9% to 17%, and from 0% to 7·7% of normal muscle, respectively. The dystrophin-associated proteins α-sarcoglycan and neuronal nitric oxide synthase were also restored at the sarcolemma. Analysis of the inflammatory infiltrate indicated a reduction of cytotoxic T cells in the post-treatment muscle biopsies in the two high-dose cohorts. INTERPRETATION: The safety and biochemical efficacy that we present show the potential of AVI-4658 to become a disease-modifying drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Author(s): Cirak S, Arechavala-Gomeza V, Guglieri M, Feng L, Torelli S, Anthony K, Abbs S, Garralda ME, Bourke J, Wells DJ, Dickson G, Wood MJ, Wilton SD, Straub V, Kole R, Shrewsbury SB, Sewry C, Morgan JE, Bushby K, Muntoni F
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: The Lancet
Year: 2011
Volume: 378
Issue: 9791
Pages: 595-605
Print publication date: 13/08/2011
ISSN (print): 0140-6736
ISSN (electronic): 1474-547X
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60756-3
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60756-3
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
