Real-world Safety and Efficacy of Dimethyl Fumarate in Relapse-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Regional Cohort Report of the Iranian Patients

The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of dimethyl fumarate (DMF) in 120 adult patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in Iran over 18 months. Results demonstrated marked disease suppression with a 95% reduction in annualized relapse rate (from 1.56 to 0.08). Overall, 88.4% of patients remained relapse-free, 70.5% showed no MRI disease activity, and 64.2% achieved no evidence of disease activity. The drug was well tolerated with predominantly mild cutaneous and gastrointestinal adverse events. Analysis comparing treatment-naive and previously treated patients showed comparable clinical outcomes, although with distinct patterns of MRI activity between groups. The study confirms the long-term effectiveness of DMF in routine clinical practice.