Results of interferon alpha-2a therapy in patients with Behcet's disease

Corticosteroids, the main treatment option in acute attacks of ocular Behcet's disease (BD), are ineffective in preventing recurrent inflammation. Even combined therapy with systemic corticosteroids and azathioprine, cyclosporine, chlorambucil, or cyclophosphamide may be ineffective in controlling the disease in severe cases. We report our clinical experience with the efficacy and tolerability of interferon alpha-2a (IFN-α-2a) monotherapy in patients with Behcet uveitis refractory to conventional immunosuppressive agents.

We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 12 Turkish Behcet patients who had been treated with IFN-α-2a between February 2009 and October 2011 because of severe uveitis refractory to traditional immunosuppressants. IFN-α-2a was initially administered at 4.5×10(6) IU/day subcutaneously; then, the dosage was tapered gradually depending on the clinical response. Previous immunosuppressive drugs such as systemic corticosteroids, azathioprine, and cyclosporine were stopped 1 day before the initiation of IFN-α-2a treatment.

The mean duration of IFN-α-2a use was 13.3 months (range: 3-28 months). Eighty-three percent of patients with ocular BD achieved partial or complete response. Best-corrected visual acuity improved or remained stable in all of patients. All patients experienced flu like symptoms responding to oral acetaminophen, hair loss was also developed in 7 of them (58%), and psoriatic skin rash was seen in 3 patients (25%) during treatment with IFN-α-2a. No other side effects were observed.

IFN-α-2a treatment is effective in Behcet uveitis refractory to traditional treatment regimens and provides significant improvement in visual prognosis.