title: Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy after treatment with interferon-alpha.
abstract: Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), though widely used for the treatment of chronic viral hepatitis, may be associated with the occurrence of autoimmune disorders. In this case report, a patient with chronic hepatitis C virus infection had chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) after the initiation of IFN-alpha therapy. The neurological symptoms of this patient continued to progress even though the treatment with IFN-alpha had been withdrawn; the symptoms improved dramatically following treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin. This case may therefore provide an important clue to understand the immune mechanism of CIDP and IFN-alpha.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo. hirotani@med.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirotani
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Shigehisa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ura
authors.forename: Kazuto
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niino
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yabe
authors.forename: Hidenao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D011115:Polyneuropathies / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D007136:Immunoglobulins; D016898:Interferon-alpha