Systematic review of the effect of interferon alpha in the treatment of Behcet's disease

Abstract

Behcet's disease is a multisystemic inflammatory vasculitis with involves of various organs and multiple manifestations (such as mucocutaneous involvement, ocular involvement, nervous system, vascular, gastrointestinal, cardiopulmonary, etc.) that is most prevalent around The silk road. Its prevalence equal in both genders. Genetic factors and the presence of HLA_B51 allele are the most important factors in the development of this disease. Given that many studies have been done on the effect of biological agents, especially interferon alpha in the treatment of Behcet's disease, the need for a study that summarizes the results of these studies and a clear view of this information for planning, decisions and Offer effective interventions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to systematically review the effect of interferon alpha in the treatment of Behcet's disease. Materials and Methods: To find related studies, valid databases were searched. The articles and documents obtained from the search were entered into the statistical community in several stages in terms of title, abstract, and all the text of the screening and final studies that met the inclusion criteria. The studies were evaluated by 2 experts and evaluated using the STROBE checklist. Relevant data were extracted from the studies using the designed table. Results: Out of 621 studies, after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 36 articles were finally included in the study. The most number of studies and patients were on ocular manifestations of Behcet that the rate of complete and partial response of Behcet's ocular involvement to treatment with interferon alpha was 89%. In 86.1% of patients, visual acuity remains constant or increases during treatment. Also, treatment with interferon alpha has a significant effect on reducing the pain score and the number and duration of oral and genital ulcers and increasing the rate of recanalization after deep vein thrombosis. Interferon has a better response than infliximab and azathioprine.