Can levamisole cause vasculitis?
Levamisole-induced vasculitis is a cutaneous vasculitis that has been reported with smoked crack cocaine and inhaled cocaine powder. It has a greater frequency in women (male to female ratio 1:3), with a mean age of presentation of 44 years.
How is levamisole treated?
The main treatments for levamisole-adulterated cocaine vasculopathy are to withdraw the drug and to provide supportive care. Most retiform purpura resolves within 2–3 weeks without specific treatment after avoiding levamisole-adulterated cocaine [3].
What is the best treatment for ANCA vasculitis?
Glucocorticoids, such as prednisolone, act as an anti-inflammatory. By reducing inflammation, they can reduce the damage caused by the immune system. These are the most commonly used treatments for ANCA vasculitis and are often used in combination with other therapies to induce and maintain remission.
Does levamisole make you tired?
SIDE EFFECTS: This medication causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, mouth sores, loss of appetite, stomach pain, change in taste and smell, muscle aches, fatigue, dizziness, headache and skin rash. Notify your doctor if these symptoms become bothersome.
Can ANCA vasculitis go away?
In some cases, vasculitis can be cured quickly; in others, the disease becomes chronic and is often marked by temporary states of remission, in which treatments markedly reduce disease activity, followed by periods in which therapies lose efficacy and symptoms reappear.
Can levamisole be used as a treatment for vasculitis?
Typically, levamisole adulterated cocaine-induced vasculitis resolves spontaneously, and thus treatment is most commonly supportive care, though steroids may be prescribed as needed. Interestingly, levamisole was used as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and was associated with side effects including arthritis [8].
Is levamisole-contaminated cocaine associated with ANCA-associated vasculitis?
Levamisole-contaminated cocaine has been linked to an ANCA-associated vasculitis with cutaneous, renal, and pulmonary manifestations.
Is Levamisole a contaminant of cocaine?
Levamisole is an antihelminth drug and a common cocaine contaminant, present in an estimated 71% of cocaine samples in the US. Levamisole-contaminated cocaine has been linked to an ANCA-associated vasculitis with cutaneous, renal, and pulmonary manifestations.
What is levlevamisole used to treat?
Levamisole was used in humans in the 1960s as a prescribed appetite suppressant [1,2]. It was also used as an immune-modulating agent for treatment of lichen planus, paediatric nephrotic syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis after its approval by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1991.