Benefit of adjunctive tacrolimus in connective tissue disease-interstitial lung disease

We report adverse events attributed to tacrolimus. Seventeen patients with CTD-ILD were included in adverse event analysis; twelve were included in efficacy analysis. Length of tacrolimus therapy ranged from 6 to 110 months (mean 38.8 months ± 31.4). The mean improvement in percent predicted total lung capacity was 7.5% ± 11.7 (p=0.02). Forced vital capacity mean improvement was 7.4% ± 12.5 (p=0.06). The average decrease in corticosteroid dose at follow-up was 20.3mg ± 25.2 (p=0.02) with complete discontinuation in six patients. No patients experienced a life-threatening adverse event attributed to tacrolimus. Tacrolimus can be effective and is well tolerated as an adjunctive therapy and allows tapering of corticosteroids.
Source: Pulmonary Pharmacology and Therapeutics - Category: Respiratory Medicine Source Type: research