Acute diarrhea during azathioprine treatment of type I autoimmune hepatitis
Fracchia, M.; Galatola, G.; Pera, A.; Foti, M.; Tabone, M.
Minerva Medica 99(2): 219-222
2008
ISSN/ISBN: 0026-4806 PMID: 18431330 Document Number: 620019
Sporadic descriptions of acute onset of watery diarrhea within a few hours to a few weeks azathioprine administration beginning have been reported, particularly in inflammatory bowel disease patients. This article reports the case of a woman treated with azathioprine because of type I autoimmune hepatitis, who developed acute watery diarrhea after more than two months of therapy. In two occasions the patient reassumed the drug and in a few hours diarrhea recurred. Subsequent 6-mercaptopurine treatment was well tolerated, suggesting that the previous side-effect could be due to the nitroimidazole moiety of azathioprine.