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Introduction In this study we characterized disease progression over 48 weeks among boys receiving deflazacort vs prednisone/prednisolone placebo arm treatment in two recent Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) clinical trials. Methods Ambulatory boys with DMD receiving placebo in the phase 3 ataluren (N = 115) and tadalafil (N = 116) trials were included. The trials required at least 6 months of prior corticosteroid use and stable baseline dosing. Associations between corticosteroid use and 48‐week changes in ambulatory function were estimated using mixed models. Adjusted differences between corticosteroid groups were pooled in a meta‐analysis. Results In the meta‐analysis, deflazacort‐treated patients vs prednisone/prednisolone‐treated patients experienced, on average, lower declines of 28.3 meters on 6‐minute walk distance (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.7, 50.9; 2.9 seconds on rise from supine [95% CI, 0.9, 4.9 seconds]; 2.3 seconds on 4‐stair climb [95% CI, 0.5, 4.1 seconds]; and 2.9 [95% CI, 0.1, 5.8] points on the North Star Ambulatory Assessment linearized score). Discussion Deflazacort‐treated patients experienced significantly lower functional decline over 48 weeks.

Decline in respiratory function in patients with DMD starts during early teenage years and leads to early morbidity and mortality. Published evidence of efficacy for idebenone on respiratory function outcomes is currently limited to 12 months of follow-up time. Here we report data collected as retrospective cohort study (SYROS) from 18 DMD patients not using glucocorticoids who were treated with idebenone (900 mg/day) under Expanded Access Programs (EAPs). The objective was to assess the long-term respiratory function evolution for periods On-Idebenone compared to periods Off-Idebenone in the same patients. The mean idebenone exposure in the EAPs was 4.2 (range 2.4-6.1) years. The primary endpoint was the annual change in forced vital capacity percent of predicted (FVC%p) compared between Off-Idebenone and On-Idebenone periods. The annual rate of decline in FVC%p was reduced by approximately 50% from -7.4% (95% CI: -9.1, -5.8) for the Off-Idebenone periods to -3.8% (95% CI: -4.8, -2.8) for the On-Idebenone periods (N = 11). Similarly, annual change in peak expiratory flow percent of predicted (PEF%p) was -5.9% (95% CI: -8.0, -3.9) for the Off-Idebenone periods (N = 9) and reduced to -1.9% (95% CI: -3.2, -0.7) for the On-Idebenone periods during the EAPs. The reduced rates of decline in FVC%p and PEF%p were maintained for several years with possible beneficial effects on the rate of bronchopulmonary adverse events, time to 10% decline in FVC%p and risk of hospitalization due to respiratory cause. These long-term data provide Class IV evidence to further support the disease modifying treatment effect of idebenone previously observed in randomized, controlled trials. ispartof: NEUROMUSCULAR DISORDERS vol:30 issue:1 pages:5-16 ispartof: location:England status: published

ObjectiveTo evaluate the relationship between deficit in digit span and genotype in nonsense mutation (nm) Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) (nmDMD).MethodsWe investigated the relationship between normalized digit-span forward (d-sf) and digit-span backward (d-sb) scores to the location of nmDMD mutations in 169 participants ≥5 to ≤20 years who participated in a phase 2b clinical trial. Because alternative promoters are found upstream of DMD exons 30, 45, and 63, we correlated d-sf and d-sb to the specific nmDMD mutation location.ResultsParticipants with nm downstream of exon 30, downstream of exon 45, and downstream of exon 63 had significantly lower normalized d-sf scores (p < 0.0001). Participants with nm downstream of exon 45 in addition had significantly lower normalized d-sb score (p < 0.04). There was no significant difference in the normalized d-sb score in participants with mutations upstream or downstream of DMD exon 30 or upstream or downstream of DMD exon 63.ConclusionOur data provide evidence that specific cognitive deficits correlate to genotype in individuals with nmDMD, highlighting the critical role of brain-specific dystrophin isoforms in the neurobiological manifestations of this disease.Clinicaltrials.gov identifierNCT02090959.

Drug development for rare diseases is challenged by small populations and limited data. This makes development of clinical trial protocols difficult and contributes to the uncertainty around whether or not a potential therapy is efficacious. The use of data standards to aggregate data from multiple sources, and the use of such integrated databases to develop statistical models can inform protocol development and reduce the risks in developing new therapies. Achieving regulatory endorsement of such models through defined pathways at the US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Authority allows such tools to be used by the drug development community for defined contexts of use without further need for discussion of the underlying model(s). The Duchenne Regulatory Science Consortium (D-RSC) has brought together multiple stakeholders to develop a clinical trial simulation tool for Duchenne muscular dystrophy using such an approach. Here we describe the work of D-RSC as an example of how such an approach may be effective at reducing uncertainty in drug development for rare diseases, and thus bringing effective therapies to patients faster.

Aim: Strategic Targeting of Registries and International Database of Excellence (STRIDE) is an ongoing, multicenter registry providing real-world evidence regarding ataluren use in patients with nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy (nmDMD). We examined the effectiveness of ataluren + standard of care (SoC) in the registry versus SoC alone in the Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group (CINRG) Duchenne Natural History Study (DNHS), DMD genotype–phenotype/–ataluren benefit correlations and ataluren safety. Patients & methods: Propensity score matching was performed to identify STRIDE and CINRG DNHS patients who were comparable in established disease progression predictors (registry cut-off date, 9 July 2018). Results & conclusion: Kaplan–Meier analyses demonstrated that ataluren + SoC significantly delayed age at loss of ambulation and age at worsening performance in timed function tests versus SoC alone (p ≤ 0.05). There were no DMD genotype–phenotype/ataluren benefit correlations. Ataluren was well tolerated. These results indicate that ataluren + SoC delays functional milestones of DMD progression in patients with nmDMD in routine clinical practice. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02369731. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02369731.

SummaryBackgroundCardiorespiratory failure is the leading cause of death in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Based on preclinical and phase 2 evidence, we assessed the efficacy and safety of idebenone in young patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who were not taking concomitant glucocorticoids.MethodsIn a multicentre phase 3 trial in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Spain, and the USA, patients (age 10–18 years old) with Duchenne muscular dystrophy were randomly assigned in a one-to-one ratio with a central interactive web response system with a permuted block design with four patients per block to receive idebenone (300 mg three times a day) or matching placebo orally for 52 weeks. Study personnel and patients were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was change in peak expiratory flow (PEF) as percentage predicted (PEF%p) from baseline to week 52, measured with spirometry. Analysis was by intention to treat (ITT) and a modified ITT (mITT), which was prospectively defined to exclude patients with at least 20% difference in the yearly change in PEF%p, measured with hospital-based and weekly home-based spirometry. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01027884.Findings31 patients in the idebenone group and 33 in the placebo group comprised the ITT population, and 30 and 27 comprised the mITT population. Idebenone significantly attenuated the fall in PEF%p from baseline to week 52 in the mITT (−3·05%p [95% CI −7·08 to 0·97], p=0·134, vs placebo −9·01%p [–13·18 to −4·84], p=0·0001; difference 5·96%p [0·16 to 11·76], p=0·044) and ITT populations (−2·57%p [–6·68 to 1·54], p=0·215, vs −8·84%p [–12·73 to −4·95], p

Objectives: Dermatomyositis (DM) can occur in both adults and children with considerable clinical differences. The links between immune-mediated mechanisms and vasculopathy with respect to development of perifascicular atrophy are incompletely understood. We investigated skeletal muscle from newly diagnosed[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], 60th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy (DGNN)

Traditionally, muscular dystrophies (MDs) are progressive, hereditary, and primarily degenerative myopathies. Nowadays, due to molecular biology, MDs are looked upon as clinically and genetically heterogeneous myopathies characterized by protein defects of muscle tissue resulting most often in muscle weakness. They are caused by gene mutations leading to a decrease of structural proteins or enzymes. The site of the primary defect and the protein function are different. The disorders are defined according to the underlying protein defect (dystrophinopathy, calpain-opathy, and others). The gene or gene product are not yet known in all forms of MD (for example, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy). Therefore, the nomenclature based on the protein defects and the term MD are used concurrently. Clinical symptoms, pathogenesis, diagnosis, therapy, prognosis, and possible prevention of the more frequent MDs are discussed: dystrophinopathies (Duchenne, Becker type), Emery-Dreifuss syndrome (3 forms), facioscapulohumeral MD, limb-girdle MD (17 forms), myotonic dystrophies (2 forms), and congenital MD (11 forms). This article highlights the significance of molecular analyses and the possible multisystemic symptoms in these myopathies.

The immune-mediated inflammatory myopathies (IIM) comprise the entities dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis (PM), sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM)1. The most common form of myopathy in children is juvenile dermatomyositis (jDM). JDM is defined as[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], 57th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy (DGNN)

Pulmonary function loss in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is progressive and leads to pulmonary insufficiency. The purpose of this study in 10-18 year old patients with DMD is the assessment of the inter-correlation between pulmonary function tests (PFTs), their reliability and the association with the general disease stage measured by the Brooke score. Dynamic PFTs (peak expiratory flow [PEF], forced vital capacity [FVC], forced expiratory volume in one second [FEV1]) and maximum static airway pressures (MIP, MEP) were prospectively collected from 64 DMD patients enrolled in the DELOS trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01027884). Baseline PEF percent predicted (PEF%p) was