Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

Chatbots as social companions: Perceiving consciousness, human likeness, and social health benefits in machines

Chatbots, or artificial agents that can carry on text conversations, are increasingly used as social companions: as friends, mentors, or significant others. Because they have become widely available only recently, there is still relatively little research on their psychological impact on people. To study how human-chatbot interaction can impact social health, relationships with family and friends, and self-esteem, we conducted a study of people who have relationships with companion chatbots and people who do not. Frequent users indicated that they received social health benefits. The perceived benefit was significantly correlated with people’s perceptions of the chatbot as having consciousness, agency, experience, and, especially, human likeness. People who did not have a relationship with a chatbot reported a more neutral to negative view, judging that if they were to use it, they might suffer harm. Yet even in the non-user group, perceived benefits positively correlated with perceived consciousness, agency, experience, and human likeness. It may be that with careful development, humanlike artificial intelligence can have a net positive effect on society, aiding mental health by supplying a reliable social interaction that improves, rather than replaces, people’s interactions with each other.24400-B1459-FA010 from AE Studios, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Princeton Department of Psychologyreadme data (dat_users, dat_control, free_response_users, free_response_control) code (chatbot_code