title: Combination therapy with mycophenolate mofetil and ursodeoxycholic acid for primary biliary cirrhosis.
abstract: Evidence of autoimmunity in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) provides a rationale for treatment with an immunosuppressant. Such a drug should be sufficiently free from serious toxicities to enable patients with asymptomatic, but progressive, disease to be treated longterm. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) mediates immunosuppression by selectively and reversibly inhibiting lymphocyte function, and has a more acceptable safety profile than other immunosuppressants that have been used in the treatment of this disease. Two patients, whose response to long-term treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) had been inadequate, were treated with a combination of MMF 2 g daily and UDCA 1 g daily for 12 months. In both patients this regimen was associated with no clinically significant adverse events, a decrease in elevated serum alkaline phosphatase levels to values close to the upper limit of normal, and an almost complete disappearance of the chronic inflammatory cell infiltrate that had been present in pre-combination treatment liver biopsies. MMF may be an appropriate immunosuppressive drug for use in the long-term treatment of patients with PBC, including asymptomatic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E.A.Jones@AMC.UVA.NL
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: ten Kate
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: ter Borg
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Houben
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Reesink
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Chamuleau
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000097:blood; D002756:Cholagogues and Choleretics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009173:Mycophenolic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014580:Ursodeoxycholic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D002756:Cholagogues and Choleretics; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D014580:Ursodeoxycholic Acid; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D009173:Mycophenolic Acid