Plasma colchicine concentration in patients with recurrent polyserositis (familial mediterranean fever) on long-term prophylaxis
✍ Scribed by E. Zylber Katz; M. Ehrenfeld; M. Levy; M. Eliakim
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1982
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 379 KB
- Volume
- 25
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0004-3591
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✦ Synopsis
Recurrent polyserositis (RP) is manifested by short, self-limited attacks of fever, peritonitis, pleurisy, and arthritis. Because this disease affects mainly Jews, Armenians, Arabs, and Turks, it has also been called familial Mediterranean fever. The first symptoms occur before the age of 20 years in about 80% of the patients, and amyloidosis develops in a small percentage of the patients (1-3).
Continuous prophylaxis with colchicine is effective in the suppression of the attacks in most patients (4-7). Nevertheless, for unknown reasons, about 15% of patients do not respond adequately. The possibility that colchicine therapy prevents the development of amyloidosis has also been suggested (8). The introduction of a radioimmunoassay for the measurement of colchicine concentration enabled us to examine patients on long-term prophylaxis and to correlate their plasma levels to the clinical state.
Patients and Methods. Fifty patients with classic recurrent polyserositis were included in the study. Twenty-eight were male and 22 female, and their mean age was 27 (9 to 64) years. All patients had been receiving colchicine for at least 7 months; the mean period was 3.6 years. Daily oral dosages were 0.5 mg for 2 patients, 0.75 mg for I , 1 .O mg for 33, 1.25 mg for 1, 1.5 mg for 10, and 2.0 mg for 3. Most patients who