[HTML][HTML] Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy after natalizumab therapy for Crohn's disease

G Van Assche, M Van Ranst, R Sciot… - … England Journal of …, 2005 - Mass Medical Soc
G Van Assche, M Van Ranst, R Sciot, B Dubois, S Vermeire, M Noman, J Verbeeck…
New England Journal of Medicine, 2005Mass Medical Soc
The prior diagnosis of fatal astrocytoma in a 60-year-old man with Crohn's disease treated
with natalizumab, a monoclonal antibody against α4 integrins, was reclassified as JC virus–
related progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Analysis of frozen serum
samples showed that JC virus DNA had appeared in the serum three months after the
initiation of open-label natalizumab monotherapy and two months before the appearance of
symptomatic PML. There was staining of the brain lesion for polyomavirus. This case report …
The prior diagnosis of fatal astrocytoma in a 60-year-old man with Crohn's disease treated with natalizumab, a monoclonal antibody against α4 integrins, was reclassified as JC virus–related progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Analysis of frozen serum samples showed that JC virus DNA had appeared in the serum three months after the initiation of open-label natalizumab monotherapy and two months before the appearance of symptomatic PML. There was staining of the brain lesion for polyomavirus. This case report, along with two others, suggests that anti–α4-integrin therapy can result in JC virus–induced PML.
The New England Journal Of Medicine