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Interferon alfa-2a in the treatment of Behçet's disease
G Azizlerli1, R Sarica, A Köse
1Department of Dermatology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Turkey.
Background:
There is no definite treatment for Behçet's disease. New drugs are being evaluated in cases unresponsive to conventional treatment modalities.
Objective:
In this study we investigated the efficacy of interferon alfa-2a on skin lesions in 18 Behçet's disease patients who had predominantly mucocutaneous involvement.
Methods:
Eighteen patients with Behçet's disease were treated with interferon alfa-2a at 3 million IU/day in the first week (three times a week), 6 million IU/day in the second week (three times a week), 9 million IU/day in the third week and thereafter (three times a week). Interferon alfa-2a was administered subcutaneously for a total of 12 weeks.
Results:
At the end of the treatment the efficacy of the drug was found to be good in 9 patients and very good in 7 patients. Interferon alfa-2a is particularly effective in skin manifestations such as genital ulceration and erythema-nodosum-like lesions. It was also found to be effective in systemic manifestations such as fever, diarrhea and eye involvement.
Conclusion:
Our results indicate that interferon alfa-2a is a promising drug in the treatment of Behçet's disease.