Acute diarrhea during azathioprine treatment of type I autoimmune hepatitis.
Sporadic descriptions of acute onset of watery diarrhea within a few hours to a few weeks azathioprine administration beginning have been reported, particularly in inflammatory bowel disease patients. This article reports the case of a woman treated with azathioprine because of type I autoimmune hepatitis, who developed acute watery diarrhea after more than two months of therapy. In two occasions the patient reassumed the drug and in a few hours diarrhea recurred. Subsequent 6-mercaptopurine treatment was well tolerated, suggesting that the previous side-effect could be due to the nitroimidazole moiety of azathioprine.
Fracchia
M
M
Department of Gastroenterology, Umberto I Hospital, Turin, Italy. m_fracchia@libero.it
Galatola
G
G
Pera
A
A
Foti
M
M
Tabone
M
M
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001379:Azathioprine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000139:chemically induced*; D005260:Female; D019693:Hepatitis, Autoimmune / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D001379:Azathioprine