PMID: 7524736Nov 15, 1994Paper

Natural interferon-alpha versus its combination with 6-methyl-prednisolone in the therapy of type II mixed cryoglobulinemia: a long-term, randomized, controlled study.

Blood
Franco DammaccoR Rizzi

Abstract

Type II mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC) is an often progressive vasculitis characterized by circulating cold-precipitable proteins that usually consists of polyclonal IgG and monoclonal IgM kappa with rheumatoid factor (RF) activity. Its etiology is unknown, although recent evidence strongly suggests that hepatitis C virus (HCV) plays a major role. Plasmapheresis, corticosteroids, and cytotoxic drugs have been used in the therapy of MC patients. Recently, favorable results with recombinant interferon-alpha (rIFN alpha) have been reported. To further assess its effectiveness, we studied the effects of natural human interferon-alpha (nIFN alpha), alone and in combination with 6-methyl-prednisolone (PDN), in a prospective, randomized, controlled trial in patients with symptomatic MC. Sixty-five patients were enrolled onto the trial, 52 (80%) of whom presented serum anti-HCV antibodies and specific genomic RNA sequences. Fifteen patients received nIFN alpha (3 MU) intramuscularly (IM) three times weekly, whereas 17 patients also received 16 mg/d of PDN orally on non-IFN days. Moreover, 18 patients received 16 mg/d of PDN only, and 15 were untreated. Treatment was discontinued after 1 year and patients were monitored for 8 to 17 months ...Continue Reading

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