Nocardia asteroides lung abscess in acute ulcerative colitis treated with cyclosporine

Cyclosporine is a potent suppresser of cell-mediated immunity that is mainl y used in organ transplantation to prevent rejection. It is also being used increasingly outside of transplantation and probably is the only new treat ment to have made an impact in acute ulcerative colitis (UC) resistant to s teroid therapy. We describe a case of Nocardia asteroides lungs abscess in a patient treated with cyclosporine for acute steroid resistant UC that was successfully managed with antibiotics and by discontinuing cyclosporine. W ith increasing use of cyclosporine for acute UC it is to be anticipated tha t opportunistic infections such as Nocardia will be more frequently encount ered in the future. (C) 2001 by Am. Coll. of Gastroenterology.