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Neuromuscular
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Ultra-high-dose methylcobalamin in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a long-term phase II/III randomised controlled study
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  • Published on: 7 January 2020
    Ultra-high-dose methylcobalamin in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

    Kaji et al. evaluated the efficacy and safety of intramuscular ultra-high-dose methylcobalamin in 373 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (1). The primary endpoints were death or full ventilation support. Although there was no significant difference between treated and control group, 50 mg methylcobalamin-treated patients with early start within 12 months' duration of diagnosis showed longer time intervals to the primary event and keep the Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) score than the placebo group. The adverse effects by this treatment were similar and low prevalence among placebo, 25 mg or 50 mg groups. The authors recommend to verify the prognosis by this medication, and I have some concerns about their study.

    First, the authors did not allow the change of riluzole administration and did not handle patients with edaravone treatment. I think that the vitamin B12 analog treatment in combination with recent neuro-protective drugs might be acceptable for future trials (2). In addition, the efficacy for ALS by methylcobalamin should be specified by adjusting several confounders for the analysis.

    Relating to vitamin therapy for ALS, Rosenbohm et al. investigated the association of serum retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) with the onset and prognosis of ALS (3). Adjusted ORs (95% C) of the highest quartile of RBP4 against lowest quartile for incident ALS was 0.36 (0.22-0.59). In addition, serum RBP4 was inversely associated with m...

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    Conflict of Interest:
    None declared.