title: Leflunomide treatment in corticosteroid-dependent myasthenia gravis: an open-label pilot study.
abstract: Leflunomide is an effective drug used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Here we report the findings of an open-label pilot study, which found that leflunomide is also an effective treatment for myasthenia gravis (MG). This study recruited 15 corticosteroid-dependent MG patients. For 6 months, leflunomide 20 mg was given to these patients daily along with prednisone. The quantitative myasthenia gravis (QMG) scores and MG activities of daily living (MG-ADL) profiles were measured in these MG patients. After 6 months of treatment, 9 of the 15 patients enrolled in this study showed improvements in both QMG and MG-ADL. The mean QMG scores (13.4 to 8.5) and MG-ADL profiles (5.8 to 2.8) were significantly decreased (P = 0.01, 0.006 respectively). Furthermore, we found that the mean corticosteroid doses were reduced after treatment with leflunomide (24.3 to 12.3 mg per day). Leflunomide is a well-tolerated and efficacious treatment for corticosteroid-dependent MG, which may also enable lower doses of corticosteroids to be administered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Yuexiu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Pei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Yuexiu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huiyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Yuexiu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Yuexiu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yufei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Yuexiu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Yuexiu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Changyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 58 Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Yuexiu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. ranliuz@163.com.
authors.forename: Weibin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007555:Isoxazoles / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000077339:Leflunomide; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D007555:Isoxazoles; D000077339:Leflunomide; D011241:Prednisone
keywords: ADL; Corticosteroid-dependent; Leflunomide; Myasthenia gravis; QMG