Methyldopa-induced systemic lupus erythematosus

✍ Scribed by David M. Nordstrom; Sterling G. West; Robert L. Rubin

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 343 KB
• Volume: 32
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/anr.1780320214

✦ Synopsis

Thirteen months after starting methyldopa therapy, a 55-year-old white male patient presented with a syndrome of hemolytic anemia, arthritis, photosensitivity, and a positive antinuclear antibody test result. Methyldopa-induced antinuclear antibodies were mainly IgG, directed against class H1 histones. Antibodies to native DNA and nonhistone proteins were not detected. Upon withdrawal of methyldopa therapy, and with a short course of prednisone and danazol therapy, the patient's symptoms and hemolytic anemia resolved. His clinical symptoms and serologic abnormalities returned to normal and remained negative after 2 years of followup.

Several drugs have been implicated in causing a syndrome that meets the criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (1,2). The antihypertensive medication methyldopa has been reported to cause several autoimmune phenomena, including a syndrome that meets some criteria for SLE (3-6). We report a case of well-documented methyldopa-induced SLE, in which

The opinions and assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.