High-dose biotin — a pharmacy-grade form of vitamin B7 — does not improve disability or walking speed in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study has confirmed.
The phase 3 trial, the results of which were published on October 23 in The Lancet Neurology, found that 12 percent of people who received the high-dose form of the vitamin, called MD1003 and manufactured by MedDay Pharmaceuticals, at a dose of 100 milligrams (mg) three times per day, showed improvement on the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and the timed 25-foot walk (T25-FW) test.
EDSS and T25-FW are both commonly used assessments of disability in MS.
But biotin’s performance was only slightly better than that of the trial's placebo, according to the study authors. In all, 9 percent of the study participants with progressive MS who received placebo treatments improved their EDSS and T25-FW results.
“The study did not find a beneficial effect of high-dose biotin in improving disability outcomes in persons with not-active progressive forms of MS,” says the lead author, Bruce A. C. Cree, MD, PhD, the George A. Zimmermann Endowed Professor in Multiple Sclerosis in the department of neurology at the University of California in San Francisco.
“Some people with progressive MS may benefit symptomatically from high-dose biotin — for example, the study suggests that there could be improvements in walking speed — and [there may be] a beneficial effect of MD1003 after long-term treatment,” he adds. “Further study would be needed to determine if any of these possible beneficial effects could be replicated.”
Biotin, or vitamin B7, is found in meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, and some vegetables. But the studies on biotin for MS have used much higher amounts than are found in food — in fact, they used up to 10,000 times the amount recommended to meet nutritional needs (30 micrograms per day).
https://www.everydayhealth.com/multi...dashing-hopes/
The phase 3 trial, the results of which were published on October 23 in The Lancet Neurology, found that 12 percent of people who received the high-dose form of the vitamin, called MD1003 and manufactured by MedDay Pharmaceuticals, at a dose of 100 milligrams (mg) three times per day, showed improvement on the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and the timed 25-foot walk (T25-FW) test.
EDSS and T25-FW are both commonly used assessments of disability in MS.
But biotin’s performance was only slightly better than that of the trial's placebo, according to the study authors. In all, 9 percent of the study participants with progressive MS who received placebo treatments improved their EDSS and T25-FW results.
“The study did not find a beneficial effect of high-dose biotin in improving disability outcomes in persons with not-active progressive forms of MS,” says the lead author, Bruce A. C. Cree, MD, PhD, the George A. Zimmermann Endowed Professor in Multiple Sclerosis in the department of neurology at the University of California in San Francisco.
“Some people with progressive MS may benefit symptomatically from high-dose biotin — for example, the study suggests that there could be improvements in walking speed — and [there may be] a beneficial effect of MD1003 after long-term treatment,” he adds. “Further study would be needed to determine if any of these possible beneficial effects could be replicated.”
Biotin, or vitamin B7, is found in meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, and some vegetables. But the studies on biotin for MS have used much higher amounts than are found in food — in fact, they used up to 10,000 times the amount recommended to meet nutritional needs (30 micrograms per day).
https://www.everydayhealth.com/multi...dashing-hopes/