Azithromycin may reduce cholestasis in primary sclerosing cholangitis: a case report and serendipitous observation

The newer macrolides have been shown to exert additional anti-inflammatory effects. We report the possible effect of azithromycin on primary sclerosing cholangitis in a patient treated with the drug for severe asthma. A 45-year-old woman with Crohn?s disease and primary sclerosing cholangitis, also suffering from severe asthma, was treated with azithromycin 500 mg OD for 3 consecutive days a week because of the clinical suspicion of bronchiectasis and the severity of her asthma. When the therapy was discontinued, her urine again became darker, pruritus reappeared with the usual severity and laboratory parameters, evaluated after 6 weeks without azithromycin, also worsened. For these reasons macrolide treatment was re-established. Cholestasis-related symptoms and the dark colour of the urine were again reduced 6 weeks later and laboratory parameters were again reversed. We are therefore tempted to speculate that azithromycin may have an effect on primary sclerosing cholangitis on the basis of its anti-inflammatory properties.