Exon skipping for Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Exon skipping has been considered a promising therapeutic approach for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Eteplirsen received conditional approval in the United States in 2016. To date, no systematic reviews or meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exon skipping drugs have been published to determine the pooled estimates for the effect of exon skipping in treating DMD. METHODS:A systematic review and meta-analysis of double-blind RCTs comparing exon-skipping drugs with placebo in DMD was performed. Trials were identified by searching published and unpublished studies from electronically available databases and clinical trial registries through October 2017. The primary outcomes were changes in the 6-min walk test (6MWT) distance, North Star Ambulatory Assessment (NSAA) scores, and adverse events. Random-effects meta-analysis and assessment of risk of bias were performed. This systematic review was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42016037504). RESULTS:Five studies involving 322 participants were included, investigating eteplirsen in one and drisapersen in four studies. There were no changes in 6MWT distance (mean difference [MD] -?9.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] -?21.94 to 3.62) or NSAA scores (MD 1.20, 95% CI -?2.35 to 4.75) after 24 weeks of treatment in the exon-skipping group compared with placebo. Subgroup analysis for a 6 mg/kg weekly injection of drisapersen showed significant changes in the 6MWT, favoring drisapersen after 24 weeks (MD -?20.24; 95% CI -?39.59 to -?0.89). However, drisapersen resulted in a significant increase in injection site reactions (risk ratio [RR] 3.67, 95% CI 1.96 to 6.89, p?

SUBMITTER: Shimizu-Motohashi Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6003096 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature