Novel approaches to Behçet’s disease

Abstract

Behçet’s disease is a systemic inflammatory disorder. The patients have repeated exacerbations and remissions of the symptoms. This disease may produce a wide variety of symptoms. In mild cases, mucocutaneous lesions are only the symptoms during the whole clinical course, whereas ocular lesions, which occur in about 70% of the patients, can cause blindness. Involvement of the gastrointestinal tract, CNS and large vessels is less frequent, but sometimes life-threatening. Colchicine, NSAIDs, corticosteroids and immunosuppressants are employed for the treatment of Behçet’s disease with therapies tailored to individual patients depending on clinical manifestations. Cyclosporin A is the most effective drug for ocular lesions at the present, but its neurotoxicity, which occurs in 20 - 30% of patients receiving cyclosporin A, restricts usage of the agent. Many patients are still suffering from a severe form of uveitis and serious neurological symptoms, which are resistant to any conventional therapies. New drugs have been investigated for Behçet’s disease. IFN-α therapy has shown significant efficacy for common symptoms including ocular lesions without any serious adverse effects. Thalidomide and its analogues also appear to be applicable to this disease. Monoclonal antibody to TNF-α is now in clinical trials. These novel therapeutic approaches may provide much needed treatment options for patients with Behçet’s disease.

• Behçet’s disease
• cyclosporin A
• IFN-α
• thalidomide
• TNF-α