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Safety and efficacy of interferon-α in 167 patients with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1-associated myelopathy

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Abstract

A postmarketing surveillance study was undertaken to investigate the safety and efficacy of interferon-α for human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy (HAM) under routine treatment conditions. A total of 273 cases from 91 medical institutions were registered into the survey. So far, 167 cases had been evaluated for safety and 152 for efficacy. The efficacy evaluation was rated based on clinical symptoms of HAM. Efficacy ratio (rate of patients assessed as “modest to markedly improved” and “mildly improved”) at 4 weeks was 66.2%. Factors that significantly affected efficacy ratio at 4 weeks was initial Osame’s motor disability score (OMDS) before interferon-α therapy and duration and stage of illness. Sustained improvement of OMDS for at least 5 months after stopping interferon-α was observed in 11 of 30 patients (36.7%). A total of 536 adverse drug reactions (ADRs) occurred in 146 patients, 46 of which were serious. Because some of these ADRs occurred late, it is necessary to watch out for them during long-term treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology and Geriatrics, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan

    Kimiyoshi Arimura & Mitsuhiro Osame

  2. Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi Hirokoji 465, Kamigyo-ku, 602-0841, Kyoto, Japan

    Masanori Nakagawa

  3. Department of Molecular Pathology, Center for Chronic Viral Diseases, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan

    Shuji Izumo

  4. Department of Medical Information Science, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan

    Koichiro Usuku

  5. Department of Medical Information Science and Administration Planning, Kumamoto University Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan

    Koichiro Usuku

  6. Department of Neurology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

    Yasuto Itoyama

  7. Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Jun-ichi Kira

Authors
  1. Kimiyoshi Arimura
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  2. Masanori Nakagawa
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  3. Shuji Izumo
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  4. Koichiro Usuku
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  5. Yasuto Itoyama
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  6. Jun-ichi Kira
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  7. Mitsuhiro Osame
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masanori Nakagawa.

Additional information

This work was supported by the Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd.

This work was supported in part by a Neuroimmunological Disease Research Committee grant from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japan.

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Arimura, K., Nakagawa, M., Izumo, S. et al. Safety and efficacy of interferon-α in 167 patients with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1-associated myelopathy. Journal of NeuroVirology 13, 364–372 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1080/13550280701397627

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13550280701397627

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