Treatment for hepatitis C has evolved from interferon-based therapy to all oral, directly acting antiviral (DAA) therapy. The influence of immunosuppression on maintaining sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients who have been treated with these directly acting agents is unknown. In this study, we report sustained hepatitis C virus (HCV) suppression in 3 patients undergoing various immuno...

This article focuses on issues of safety and monitoring when immunosuppressive pharmacologic therapies are prescribed for the treatment of connective tissue disease (CTD)-associated interstitial pneumonias, vasculitides, and bronchiolitis. Prospective, randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials have yet to be performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of various immunosuppressive agents u...

As we enter the millennium, the most widely acknowledged advancement in transplantation has been the development of more selective and potent immunosuppressive agents. In the early period of transplantation, the selection of maintenance immunosuppression was limited to the combination of azathioprine and corticosteroids. Unfortunately, these agents were relatively non-specific and ineffective a...

An unusual case of giant cell myocarditis presenting with cardiogenic shock that dramatically responded to conventional dose of steroids and azathioprine is reported. Cardiac recovery was rapid, complete (left ventricular ejection fraction rose to 55% from 10%), and was accompanied by the disappearance of the inflammatory infiltrates including giant cells in the control endomyocardial biopsy. M...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The purpose of this review is to discuss reasons why immunosuppressive therapy so far failed in Primary Biliry Cholangitis. RECENT FINDINGS Even targeted immunosuppressive therapy seems ineffective or potentially harmful. SUMMARY Bile acid-mediated cholangiocyte damage, facilitated by insufficient bicarbonate secretion, seems to attenuate the anti-inflammatory and anti-fib...

myelodysplastic syndromes (mds) are a group of hematological disorders ranging from chronic refractory anemia to leukemia. there are some reports about association of mds with autoimmune disorders and vasculitis. in this study we describe a patient with mds and vasculitis presenting with central nervous system (cns) involvement. a clinical response to immunosuppressive therapy was also observed...

Immunosuppressive therapy is one of the standard therapy protocols for aplastic anemia (AA). However, immunosuppressive therapy and androgenic steroids can promote development of solid tumors such as squamous carcinoma, head and neck tumors, adenocarcinoma of the stomach, hepatocarcinoma and breast carcinoma in long surviving patients with aplastic anemia. We present here a rare case of a 56-ye...