Lupus erythematosus syndrome hydralazine

Certain autoimmune syndromes can be induced by drugs. Examples include systemic lupus erythematosus following hydralazine or procainamide therapy, "lupoid hepatitis" due to cathartic sensitivity, autoimmune hemolytic anemia resulting from methyldopa administration, thrombocytopenic purpura due to quinidine, and agranulocytosis due to a variety of drugs. As indicated in other... 

This leaves hydralazine as the only drug of this kind available to date on the U.S. market for chronic use. The total picture of the mechanism of action of hydralazine is still not clearly defined but there is general agreement that direct relaxation of the vasculature leading to reduced peripheral resistance is the principal component of its mechanism of action. This drug has stood the test of time despite such side effects as headache, tachycardia and a syndrome which resembles acute systemic lupus erythematosus, often called "hydralazine syndrome" (1). 

V-Acetylation /V-acetyl transferase Hydralazine (antihypertensive) Lupus erythematosus-like syndrome... 

There is an increase in the incidence of hydralazine-induced lupus erythematosus (LE) in the exposed population with increasing dose as can be seen in Table 7.9. However, patients who develop LE do not have a significantly different cumulative intake of hydralazine from those patients who do not develop the syndrome. This latter observation is consistent with the absence of a clear dose-response relationship in many cases of toxicity with an immunological basis. 

Hydralazine has been in use since the 1950s and is usually used in combination with other drugs such as diuretics and P-blockers. In a significant number of patients, and typically after 18 months, adverse effects started to appear. These included joint and muscle pain (arthralgia and myalgia), a rash on the face and inflamed blood vessels (vasculitis). The rash on the face made afflicted patients look wolf-like, which gave rise to the name for the syndrome. Lupus erythematosus (Lupus is Latin for wolf). This disease can be caused by other drugs, such as isoniazid very occasionally and procainamide more frequently. It may also have other, unknown, causes and has some similarities with rheumatoid arthritis. 

Collagen diseases (type II) and syndromes resembling them, e.g. systemic lupus erythematosus are sometimes caused by drugs, e.g. hydralazine, procainamide, isoniazid, sulphonamides. Adrenal steroid is useful. 

Glomerulonephritis is one of the most serious complications of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and accounts for much of the morbidity and mortality of patients afflicted with the disease. The renal manifestations of lupus nephritis are variable and encompass a wide spectrum of histopathologic lesions. ° ° The underlying histopathology is associated with different prognoses and responses to therapy, which cannot be predicted solely based on clinical manifestations. A renal biopsy is therefore required to assess the severity of the disease and to predict the short-term and long-term outcomes associated with therapy. Drugs, such as hydralazine and procainamide, are known to precipitate a lupus syndrome however, they are unlikely to cause disease that affects the kidney. 

Certain drugs, such as hydralazine, procainamide, isoniazid, chlorpromazine, and minocycline, can provoke lupus-like manifestations (D Cruz, 2000). Clear differences between systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus syndrome can be identified — hence the recommended different terminology. Typical clinical features of the drug-induced lupus syndrome include arthralgias, arthritis, rash, and... 

Since the original reports by Perry and Schroder (1954) and Dunstan et al. (1954) describing a lupus-like syndrome inducible with hydralazine, and by Ladd (1962) with procainamide, much attention has been paid to the relationship of drug-induced lupus with the established clinical entity - systemic lupus erythematosus. 

Alarcon-Segoria D, Wakins KG, Worthington JW (1967) Clinical and experimental studies on the hydralazine syndrome and its relationship to systemic lupus erythematosus. Medicine (Baltimore) 46 1-33... 

Reeves PR, Case DE, Jepson HT et al. (1978) Practolol metabolism in metabolism in human subjects. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 205(2) 489-498 Reinhardt DJ, Waldron JM (1954) Lupus erythematosus-like syndrome complicating hydralazine (Apresoline) therapy. JAMA 155 1491-1492 Riddiough MA (1977) Preventing, detecting and managing adverse reactions of antihypertensive agents in the ambulant patient with essential hypertension. Am J Hosp Pharm 45(5) 465-477... 

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