title: Abatacept therapy for rheumatoid arthritis in the setting of hepatitis C infection.
abstract: Chronic hepatitis C in the setting of rheumatoid arthritis may be an obstacle to optimal management because of potential hepatotoxicity and adverse effects from immune suppression in these patients with a chronic infection. There are no reports in the literature discussing the use of abatacept, a T-cell costimulatory blocker, in patients with chronic hepatitis C. This article is the first report to describe the use of abatacept in 2 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and concomitant hepatitis C with favorable outcome.
authors.affiliation: Dallas VA Medical Center and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Tina Dewan
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Mahajan
authors.forename: Roderick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hooker
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.forename: Geri
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reimold
mesh_terms: D000069594:Abatacept; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D018796:Immunoconjugates / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D018796:Immunoconjugates; D000069594:Abatacept