Thalidomide and its impact in dermatology

Thalidomide, originally marketed as a sedative, wets introduced in West Ger many in 1956 and in numerous other countries soon thereafter, In part becau se it did not impair coordination or respiratory function, the drug rapidly became extremely popular. By 1961, however, there were mounting reports of phocomelia and other severe congenital abnormalities associated with mater nal use of thalidomide, and the drug was withdrawn from the market and ifs availability highly restricted, A few years later, thalidomide would find u se in dermatology after it was reported that leprosy patients with erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) experienced rapid and dramatic improvement otter ta king the drug as a sedative. Additional data quickly con firmed thalidomide 's efficacy in ENL, and today it is the drug of choice in the condition, In subsequent decades, the drug has been successfully tried in treatment of a variety of apparently unrelated dermatologic disorders. Meanwhile, thalido mide has been shown to possess a range of biologic actions, including inhib ition of tumor necrosis factor alpha, possibly relevant to its clinical eff icacy. Dermatologic disorders in addition to ENL in which thalidomide's eff ectiveness is well documented include aphthous stomatitis, discoid lupus er ythematosus, actinic prurigo, Behcet's disease, and prurigo nodularis. Mote recently, the drug hers been employed in dermatologic conditions associate d with HIV infection. When used with safeguards to prevent teratogenicity a nd the drug's other major adverse effect, peripheral neuropathy, thalidomid e may offer a good therapeutic option for many patients in whom other drug therapies have proven inadequate. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Compa ny.