Efficacy and safety of systemic recombinant interferon‐alpha in Behcet's disease

• Published in: Journal of internal medicine Vol. 243; no. 5; pp. 367 - 372
• Main Authors: GEORGIOU, S, MONASTIRLI, A, PASMATZI, E, GARTAGANIS, S, GOERZ, G, TSAMBAOS, D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford BSL Blackwell Science Ltd 01.05.1998; Blackwell Science
• Subjects: Adult; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - administration & dosage; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - adverse effects; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - therapeutic use; aphthae; Behcet Syndrome - blood; Behcet Syndrome - drug therapy; Behcet's disease; Biological and medical sciences; Drug Administration Schedule; Female; Humans; Immunomodulators; Injections, Subcutaneous; Interferon alpha-2; Interferon-alpha - administration & dosage; Interferon-alpha - adverse effects; Interferon-alpha - therapeutic use; interferon‐α; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Recombinant Proteins; Treatment Outcome; Human; Evaluation; Skin disease; Recombination; Stomatology; Alpha interferon; Cytokine; Cardiovascular disease; Behçet syndrome; Genital diseases; Incidence; Vascular disease; Eye disease; Safety factor; Follow up study; Systemic disease; Subcutaneous administration; Effectiveness factor
• ISSN: 0954-6820; 1365-2796
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2796.1998.00159.x

Georgiou S, Monastirli A, Pasmatzi E, Gartaganis S, Goerz G, Tsambaos D (Departments of Dermatology and Ophthalmology, University of Patras, Greece and the Department of Dermatology, Heinrich‐Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany). Efficacy and safety of systemic recombinant interferon‐alpha in Behcet's disease. J Intern Med 1998; 243: 367–72. Objectives To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of systemic recombinant interferon α‐2a (IFN ‐α) in patients with Behcet's disease (BD) and to determine the incidence of episodes in complete responders during the one‐year pretreatment period and follow‐up. Design An open clinical study. Setting Departments of Dermatology and Ophthalmology, University of Patras, Greece and Department of Dermatology, Heinrich‐Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany. Subjects Twelve patients (aged 23–52 years) with active BD who had previously been unsuccessfully treated with systemic steroids and/or immunosuppressives. Interventions IFN‐α was administered subcutaneously at a dose of 6 × 106 IU per day 3 times per week for 2 months. Main outcome measures Change of area or number of mucocutaneous lesions, grading score for thrombophlebitis and ocular inflammation, haematological and biochemical parameters and number of episodes during the pretreatment period and the follow‐up. Evaluation of IFN‐α side effects. Results Nine patients (75.0%) revealed a complete remission, two (16.6%) a partial remission and one patient (8.3%) showed no response. During the follow‐up in five out of the nine complete responders (55.5%) no episodes of BD were seen, whereas, the other four patients (44.5%) had 1–2 episodes, as compared to 5–8 and 5–12 episodes, respectively, during the pretreatment period. An influenza‐like syndrome (fever, nausea and myalgias) appeared during the early phase of therapy in all (but one) patients. No patient had to discontinue IFN‐α because of intolerance. Conclusions Subcutaneous human recombinant interferon α‐2a appears to be an effective and fairly well tolerated therapy for BD.