Comparative the efficacy and acceptability of immunosuppressive agents for myasthenia gravis : a protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Immunosuppressive drugs are routinely used to treat myasthenia gravis (MG). However, current recommendations provide limited evidence to support treatment options, leading to considerable variation in practice among healthcare specialists. Hence, we present a protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) to update the evidence by comparing the efficacy and acceptability of oral immunosuppressive drugs for the treatment of MG. Methods: We will conduct a systematic review and NMA of all randomized controlled trials evaluating the following oral immunosuppressive drugs for the treatment of MG. Published studies will be searched using the following databases from inception to November 23, 2021: CENTRAL, the CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and 3 Chinese databases (Chinese Biomedical Literatures Database, CNKI, and Wan Fang database). Assessment of study eligibility and data extraction will be conducted independently by 2 reviewers. The main outcome will be a quantitative MG scoring system. We will conduct Bayesian NMA to synthesize all evidence for each outcome and obtain a comprehensive ranking of all treatments. The quality of the evidence will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations framework. Results: The objective of this study was to assess the relative clinical efficacy and acceptability of first-line immunosuppressants for the treatment of MG, using a systematic review and NMA approach. Conclusion: In the absence of head-to-head trials comparing therapies, evidence from this NMA of available clinical trials will inform clinicians, patients, and families the risk-benefit profiles of different treatment options.