Levamisole is among the many contaminants that have been detected in seized cocaine throughout North America and Europe. Little is known about the association between levamisole-adulterated cocaine and vasculitis. Herein we describe a case of limited cutaneous vasculitis manifested as retiform purpura and skin necrosis in a user of cocaine contaminated with levamisole.

Two animal models were used to investigate the mode of action of levamisole and thymopoietin. Neither compound influenced the subcutaneous carrageenan air pouch. While thymopoietin inhibited the formation of cotton pellet granulomas, levamisole enhanced it. This supports the conclusions of clinical studies reported elsewhere that levamisole and thymopoietin do not act in the same way in rheumat...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is much more common in hemodialysis patients than the general population. These patients have an impaired immune response to HBV vaccination; to that end there are certain studies that have evaluated levamisole as an immunomodulator agent improving HBV vaccination response rate in hemodialysis patients. OBJECTIVES In the current review, we have ass...

Levamisole has been employed as an immunomodulatory agent in conjunction with 5-fluorouracil in the treatment of colon cancer relapse. At high doses, levamisole has been shown to have both anti-cancer and immunosuppressive activities. In vitro, levamisole has been shown to potentiate the anti-proliferative effect of 5-fluorouracil in several types of tumor cell lines; however, its mechanism of ...

Gongylonema pulchrum is an important parasite of captive primates. Twelve rabbits were infected with 30 third-stage larvae of G. pulchrum. At 4-7 months post-infection, animals were administered levamisole at a single dose of 12 mg/kg, levamisole at 8 mg/kg three times at 2-day intervals, levamisole at a single dose of 8 mg/kg after administration of mebendazole at 70 mg/kg for 3 days or 8 ml o...

Levamisole, a commonly used anti-helminthic, has been found to have microfilaricidal, immunostimulant and immunomodulator activities. Its side effects include nausea and vomiting, metallic taste, diarrhea, malaise, insomnia, sensory stimulation, hyperallergic state, dizziness, headache, blurred vision, fatigue and fever. Prolonged use of this drug may cause agranulocytosis, cutaneous necrosis, ...

An in vitro cultivation method for spleen and head kidney organ section were used to investigate the eff ects of levamisole on the immune response. After 10 days of culture with 10 μg/ml, 50 μg/ml and 100 μg/ml or no levamisole in the culture media, the non specific defense reaction were measured by glass-adherent NBT (nitroblue tetrazolium) positive cells activation and phagocytic activity. El...

Levamisole induced skin vasculitis/vasculopathy is a relatively new diagnosis with limited knowledge about the underlying mechanism of above manifestation. The most commonly reported cause is the generation of autoantibodies against myleoperoxidase and other neutrophilic enzymes hence commonly mimicking ANCA associated vasculitis. We present a case report of 52 years old female with history of ...

Levamisole (the laevorotatory isomer of tetramisole) is a new synthetic anthelmintic. A cure rate of 91% was obtained in a series of 111 ascariasis-infected children treated with a single oral dose of the drug. The failures, who were treated with the drug a second time one week later, were all cured. In a comparative study of levamisole and piperazine citrate in a series of 100 children with as...

© 2017 Kristen Whitworth. Cavalieri. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The first case connecting vasculitis to levamisole adulterated cocaine was published in 2010. Since that time, there have been numerous case reports of complications arising from levamisole contaminated cocaine. A case report in 2011 suggested the use o...