Brief Review and a Clinical Case of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome Associated with Interferon β Treatment.

The hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is one of the thrombotic microangiopathies and it consists of the triad of non-immune microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury. The atypical form of HUS (aHUS) is related to causative mutations in complement genes. Some conditions act as a trigger for aHUS in individuals that have a genetic background predisposing to complement activation. Interferon beta is a recombinant-protein therapy approved to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), and can be a causative agent in the occurrence of HUS through anti-angiogenic activity. In this paper, we briefly review aHUS clinical and genetic characteristics. Furthermore, we present a case of a 48-year-old woman, diagnosed with MS and treated with INF beta-1b from 2008. In December 2015, she presented with asthenia and loss of muscular strength in the legs and she quickly developed aHUS. Our case suggests that INF beta is a possible triggering factor for HUS. (C) 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel