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Ulrich Stölzel, MD; Erich Köstler, MD; Detlef Schuppan, MD; Matthias Richter, MD; Uwe Wollina, MD; Manfred O. Doss, MD; Christian Wittekind, MD; Andrea Tannapfel, MD

Arch Dermatol. 2003;139:309-313.

Objective  To examine the role of hemochromatosis (HFE) gene mutations, which are associated with porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT), in the therapeutic response to chloroquine.

Design  We retrospectively analyzed a database (Excel version 2001 [Microsoft Excel, Redmond, Wash]; date range of search, 1985-1999) of chloroquine-treated patients with PCT on whether HFE mutations (C282Y and H63D) might have influenced the clinical response, urinary porphyrin excretion, liver enzyme activities, and serum iron markers. Serum samples and corresponding complete sets of data before and after therapy were available in 62 of 207 patients with PCT who were treated exclusively with chloroquine.

Settings  Academic teaching hospital.

Intervention  For treatment, low-dose chloroquine diphosphate, 125 to 250 mg twice weekly, was used during a median time of 16 months (range, 12-26 months).

Results  Of the 62 German patients with PCT, 37 (60%) carries HFE mutations. Chloroquine therapy was accompanied by clinical remission and reduced urinary porphyrin excretion (P<.001) in the 24 patients (39%) with HFE wild type as well as in 35 HFE heterozygous patients with PCT (56%). Decreases of serum iron markers following chloroquine therapy were limited to patients with PCT and HFE wild type. All patients homozygous for the C282Y mutation (3 [5%] of 62) had high serum iron, ferritin, and transferrin saturation and failed to respond to chloroquine treatment.

Conclusions  The therapeutic response to chloroquine was not compromised by C282Y heterozygosity and compound heterozygosity of HFE mutations. Because HFE C282Y homozygotes (+/+) did not respond to chloroquine and a decrease in serum iron concentration was limited to patients with PCT and HFE wild type, phlebotomy should be first-line therapy in patients with PCT and HFE mutations.

From the Department of Medicine II, Klinikum Chemnitz, Chemnitz, (Drs Stölzel and Richter); Department of Dermatology, Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Dresden (Drs Köstler and Wollina); Department of Medicine I, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen-Nürnberg (Dr Schuppan); Division of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Marburg, Marburg (Dr Doss); and Institute of Pathology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig (Drs Wittekind and Tannapfel); Germany. The authors have no relevant financial interest in this article.

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