Azathioprine for remission maintenance in anti-interferon-γ autoantibody-associated immunodeficiency syndrome- a retrospective single-center cohort study
摘要
Anti-interferon-γ autoantibody (Anti-IFN-γ Aab) disease is associated with frequent recurrent infections. Adjunctive immunosuppressive treatment, including rituximab, can achieve disease remission. However, disease relapses and recurrent infections occur after immunosuppressive drugs are discontinued. Azathioprine (AZA) is used for maintenance therapy in many autoimmune diseases with few adverse effects. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of AZA in maintaining clinical remission in patients with Anti-IFN-γ Aab disease.
MethodsThis retrospective observational study was conducted at Ramathibodi Hospital, Thailand, from 2019 to 2023. The study involved two patient groups with Anti-IFN-
Of the 29 sampled patients, 15 received AZA maintenance therapy, and 14 did not. There were no notable differences between the groups regarding demographics (age and sex), clinical presentation, identified pathogens, and infection episodes before initiating immunosuppressive treatment or the induction regimen. The Kaplan–Meier 50% cumulative survival analysis of disease relapse time was 3.99 years in the AZA group compared to 0.88 years in the group without AZA. The covariate-adjusted survival curve estimations of the durations of antimicrobial treatments, Anti-IFN-γ Aab inhibition titers before AZA initiation, and induction regimens showed a hazard ratio of 0.096 (p=0.006, 95%CI: 0.018–0.507) in the AZA group.
ConclusionAZA was generally safe and associated with prolonged remission in Anti-IFN-
Not applicable