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Interferon ß-1a treatment of corticosteroid sensitive polymyositis

¹ Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie, Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
² Klinik für Neurologie, Städtisches Klinikum St Georg, Leipzig, Germany

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Dressel, Neurologische Klinik, Universität Greifswald, Ellernholzstraße 1/2, 17487 Greifswald, Germany;
alexander.dressel@neurologie.uni-greifswald.de

Keywords: interferon ß; polymyositis

Inflammatory myopathies may occur with malignancies or collagenosis (lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, overlap syndrome, or mixed connective tissue disease) or be associated with retroviral disease.¹ Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies may present as dermatomyositis, inclusion body myositis, or polymyositis.

Most patients with polymyositis respond well to pulse treatment with corticosteroids. However, this treatment is usually restricted to short periods of time in an effort to contain severe bouts of the disease. A more chronic term of corticosteroid treatment is often desirable but this approach is complicated by untoward side effects and by the tolerability of the patient. Most authors recommend a combination of azathioprine and low doses of corticosteroids. If this regimen fails, ciclosporin A, immunoglobulins, or cyclophosphamide is recommended.² ß Interferons are a new group of immunomodulatory drugs widely used for treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis, a disease of probable autoimmune origin.³ However, no data are available on the efficacy . . . [Full text of this article]