INTERFERON THERAPY FOR BEHCETS-DISEASE

Background: Behcet's disease was first described in 1937 as a trisympt om complex. No standard therapy has been established. Tts cause is pre sumed to be viral or immunologic. Objective: We sought to determine wh ether patients with Behcet's disease benefit from interferon, which ha s antiviral, immunomodulatory, antiproliferative, and antitumoral prop erties. Methods: Fourteen patients were initially given 3 MU interfero n alfa-2a subcutaneously three times per week. The doses were graduall y increased to 12 MU. Each patient received a total dose of 216 MU dur ing the 2-month study. Therapy with 9 MU interferon alfa-2a once a mon th was continued in half the patients. Ah patients were observed befor e and after treatment for 6-month periods, and all symptoms were recor ded. Results: All patients were symptom free by the end of the 2-month treatment period. The frequencies of oral and genital ulcers as well as pustular vasculitis decreased significantly in the posttreatment pe riod as compared with the pretreatment period. Conclusion: The data su ggest that interferon treatment appears to be effective for patients w ith Behcet's disease.