Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2009;48(15):1307-9.
doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.48.1926. Epub 2009 Aug 3.

Leukoencephalopathy with cognitive impairment following tocilizumab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

Katsuya Kobayashi  1 , Yoko Okamoto, Haruhisa Inoue, Takashi Usui, Masafumi Ihara, Jun Kawamata, Yukio Miki, Tsuneyo Mimori, Hidekazu Tomimoto, Ryosuke Takahashi
Affiliations
Free article
Case Reports

Leukoencephalopathy with cognitive impairment following tocilizumab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

Katsuya Kobayashi et al. Intern Med. 2009.
Free article

Abstract

The biological agent tocilizumab, is a humanized, anti-human interleukin-6 receptor antibody. A 72-year-old woman developed cognitive impairment during the Phase III clinical trial of tocilizumab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. MRI demonstrated hyperintense dissemination throughout the white matter on T2WI. An initial diagnosis of possible progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy was made, but the PCR for JC virus DNA was negative in the CSF. The leukoencephalopathy might have been caused by a mechanism related to tocilizumab itself. It is strongly recommended to perform MRI if a patient develops any cognitive impairment during tocilizumab therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

MeSH terms