The effect of colchicine on mucocutaneous and joint manifestations of Behçet's disease

Abstract

Mucocutaneous lesions are the most common manifestation and hallmark of Behçet’s Syndrome (BS). They show a significant impact on patients' quality of life and more importantly, may occur concurrently with major organ involvement. Colchicine is the first-line therapy for patients with mucocutaneous involvement because of its good tolerability and safety profile. The literature lacks clear data on the duration of treatment of mucocutaneous symptoms and the prognosis of patients who interrupt colchicine therapy. This study was planned to observe differences in mucocutaneous findings, joint findings and disease activity, in the colchicine-free period of the patients who were followed up with the diagnosis of BS without active major organ involvement and who were in remission and discontinued colchicine treatment. Our study demonstrated a significant increase in the rate of patients who developed aphthae after the discontinuation of colchicine treatment, which is the primary endpoint, and in the number of newly developed aphthae, which is the secondary endpoint. A significant increase was observed in the rate of patients who developed erythema nodosum in the first and second months. There was no significant difference in the development of genital ulcers after discontinuation of colchicine. The rate of nodular lesion development in female patients increased during the colchicine-free period. Due to the low number of patients who developed joint complaints, we could not demonstrate the efficacy of colchicine in our study.