Treatment of patients with hemophilia A and inhibitors to factor FVIII with cimetidine

• Published in: Archives of medical research Vol. 27; no. 1; p. 15
• Main Authors: Ambriz Fernandez, R, Quintana Gonzalez, S, Martinez Murillo, C, Dominguez Garcia, V, Rodriguez Moyado, H, Collazo Jaloma, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 1996
• Subjects: Adjuvants, Immunologic - therapeutic use; Adolescent; Adult; Antibodies - blood; Antibodies - immunology; Child; Cimetidine - therapeutic use; Factor VIII - antagonists & inhibitors; Factor VIII - immunology; Factor VIII - therapeutic use; Hemophilia A - complications; Hemophilia A - drug therapy; Hemophilia A - immunology; Hemorrhage - drug therapy; Hemorrhage - etiology; Hemorrhage - immunology; Humans
• ISSN: 0188-4409

In this study, cimetidine was used to treat patients with hemophilia A and inhibitors to factor VIII who presented with acute hemorrhages (Group A) and those without hemorrhages (Group B). The dose of cimetidine was 15 mg/kg/day. Group A consisted of five patients with inhibitors between 156 and > 10,000 Bethesda Units (BU), all with serious hemorrhagic problems. The control of hemorrhaging was effective in 100% of these patients, although inhibitor levels remained high (25-380 BU). Group B consisted of seven patients who did not have hemorrhages, whose inhibitor levels were 41-358 BU. Five of these patients no longer had anamnestic responses to Factor VIII after several months of treatment with cimetidine. No difference in the response to cimetidine was seen between HIV positive and HIV negative patients. The results suggest that cimetidine is useful to suppress inhibitors to Factor VIII in patients with hemophilia A.