Mutsuto Tateishi

Efficacy of combination treatment with cyclosporin A and corticosteroids for acute interstitial pneumonitis associated with dermatomyositis

Abstract Interstitial pneumonitis (IP) associated with polymyositis and dermatomyositis (PM/DM) is a serious complication that affects prognosis. We therefore undertook a retrospective multicenter study to examine the efficacy of a combination treatment with cyclosporin A (CsA) and corticosteroids. Fifty-three IP patients with PM/DM (9 PM, 44 DM) were analyzed. Thirty-two patients treated with CsA plus corticosteroids (9 PM, 23 DM) were included in the study. Four parameters, i.e., subjective symptoms, ausculatory sound, chest radiographs, and respiratory index, were serially evaluated. A general evaluation was performed 4 weeks after the start of the combination treatment. All patients with PM and chronic IP with DM, and 52% of those with acute IP with DM were graded as better than “partially effective” in the general evaluation. In contrast, all patients graded as “progressive” in the general evaluation had acute IP with DM. It is of note that in acute IP with DM, the survival rate of the group primarily treated with CsA and corticosteroids from the early stage of their disease was significantly higher than that of the group initially treated with corticosteroids alone (P = 0.049). In conclusion, a combination treatment of CsA and corticosteroids from the early stage of disease may be advantageous for patients with IP with PM/DM, especially acute IP with DM.

Tacrolimus-induced pulmonary injury in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

BACKGROUND Tacrolimus (TAC) was approved in Japan in 2005 for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients having inadequate response to other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. As of May 2007, spontaneous reports identified twenty-seven cases of exacerbation or new development of interstitial pneumonia among RA patients given TAC in Japan. OBJECTIVE To describe the clinical and radiological characteristics of TAC-induced pulmonary injury (TIPI). PATIENTS AND METHODS Eleven RA patients diagnosed with de novo pulmonary injury or exacerbation of IP during treatment with TAC were identified. Clinical, radiological, and laboratory data of ten of these cases were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS Baseline data for the ten patients were a mean age of 69.7 years; gender, 70% female; mean RA disease duration, 9.1 years; and pulmonary comorbidities, 90%. Six cases were classified as presumptive TAC-induced pulmonary injury (TIPI) and four as probable TIPI. Among the six presumptive cases, TIPI developed at an average of 84 days after initiation of treatment (n = 5) or four days after reinstitution of TAC (n = 1). Five cases were an exacerbation of pre-existing interstitial pneumonia and one was a de novo pulmonary injury. Radiological patterns of thoracic computed tomography (CT) scans of patients in the presumptive TIPI cases were hypersensitivity pneumonia like-pattern (n = 3), ground-glass opacity (n = 2), and organizing pneumonia-pattern (n = 1). All patients with presumptive TIPI were treated with high dosage glucocorticosteroids and one received concomitant immunosuppressants. Two of the six presumptive TIPI patients died. CONCLUSION Rheumatologists should be aware of this rare but potentially life-threatening adverse event in RA patients receiving TAC.

Possible involvement of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in polyclonal B-cell activation in Sjögren's syndrome

The following results suggest that EBV might be involved in the mechanism of polyclonal B-cell activation of Sjögrens syndrome (SS). (1) The levels of serum anti-VCA antibodies of both IgG and IgM class were significantly elevated in SS. (2) Excretion of EBV from the oropharynx was frequently observed in SS. (3) Spontaneously transformed B-cell lines producing a large amount of transforming EBV were established preferentially from SS. (4) An EBV-specific regulatory mechanism was impaired in SS.