Sonoko Misawa, Satoshi Kuwabara, Yasunori Sato, Nobuko Yamaguchi, Kengo Nagashima, Kanako Katayama, Yukari Sekiguchi, Yuta Iwai, Hiroshi Amino, Tomoki Suichi, Takanori Yokota, Yoichiro Nishida, Tadashi Kanouchi, Nobuo Kohara, Michi Kawamoto, Junko Ishii, Motoi Kuwahara, Hidekazu Suzuki, Koichi Hirata, Norito Kokubun, Ray Masuda, Juntaro Kaneko, Ichiro Yabe, Hidenao Sasaki, Ken-Ichi Kaida, Hiroshi Takazaki, Norihiro Suzuki, Shigeaki Suzuki, Hiroyuki Nodera, Naoko Matsui, Shoji Tsuji, Haruki Koike, Ryo Yamasaki, Susumu Kusunoki
BACKGROUND: Despite the introduction of plasmapheresis and immunoglobulin therapy, many patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome still have an incomplete recovery. Evidence from pathogenesis studies suggests the involvement of complement-mediated peripheral nerve damage. We aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of eculizumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody against the complement protein C5, in patients with severe Guillain-Barré syndrome. METHODS: This study was a 24 week, multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised phase 2 trial done at 13 hospitals in Japan...
April 20, 2018: Lancet Neurology