Infliximab is effective for Takayasu arteritis refractory to glucocorticoid and methotrexate.

Abstract

We have experienced a Takayasu arteritis (TA) patient, successfully treated with infliximab, who did not respond well to conventional therapy with glucocosteroid and methotrexate. Takayasu arteritis had developed in a 24-year-old woman (March 2003) who had been treated with glucocorticoid including methylprednisolone pulse therapy and methotrexate; however, she relapsed during the tapering of the dosage of oral prednisolone. Nineteen months after the first administration of glucocorticoid, 3 mg/kg of infliximab was introduced to the patient. The therapeutic efficacy of infliximab was markedly demonstrated; the patient's C-reactive protein (CRP) value returned to almost normal range with subsequent tapering of the dosage of oral prednisolone in the absence of further relapse. This is the first case presentation of TA in Japan successfully treated with infliximab.

• Authors: Fumiko Tanaka, Atsushi Kawakami, Nozomi Iwanaga, Mami Tamai, Yasumori Izumi, Kouichiro Aratake, Kazuhiko Arima, Makoto Kamachi, Hideki Nakamura, Mingguo Huang, Hiroaki Ida, Tomoki Origuchi, Katsumi Eguchi
• Journal: Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) (Intern Med) Vol. 45 Issue 5 Pg. 313-6 ( 2006) ISSN: 1349-7235 [Electronic] Japan
• PMID: 16596001 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Monoclonal
• Glucocorticoids
• Immunosuppressive Agents
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
• C-Reactive Protein
• Prednisolone
• Infliximab
• Methotrexate

Topics

• Adult
• Antibodies, Monoclonal (therapeutic use)
• C-Reactive Protein (analysis)
• Female
• Glucocorticoids (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Immunosuppressive Agents (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Infliximab
• Magnetic Resonance Angiography
• Methotrexate (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Prednisolone (administration & dosage)
• Pulse Therapy, Drug
• Takayasu Arteritis (drug therapy)
• Treatment Failure
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha