Tacrolimus (FK-506) was administered at an initial dosage of 1 mg every 12 hours, and FK-506 concentration in the blood was monitored monthly. FK-506 blood concentration was controlled within 5 to 15 μg/L. After 6 months, the dosage of tacrolimus was reduced to 0.5 mg daily for another 2 months and then treatment was stopped. Swelling of the bilateral salivary glands disappeared within the first week. No serious side effects were noted and the disease has not recurred in the 2 years of follow-up. Tacrolimus may be an effective treatment for patients with Kimuras disease, but more research is needed to determine its long-term efficacy and safety, as well as its mechanism of action. Prevalence
Kimuras disease is said to be predominantly seen in males of Asian descent. However, a study of 21 cases in the United States showed no racial preference, of 18 males and three females (male/female ratio 6:1), 8 to 64 years of age (mean, 32 years), and seven Caucasians, six Blacks, six Asians, one Hispanic, and an Arab were included.Assessing the prevalence is difficult. The medical literature alone holds over 500 case reports and series (typically two, three cases) from the 1980s to early 2017 in English, excluding the existing Chinese, Japanese, and Korean medical reports that add more cases. History
The first known report of Kimuras disease was from China in 1937, when Kimm and Szeto identified seven cases of the condition.
Patent infringement claims
A U.S. Federal Appeals Court ruled 15 September 2009 that Mircera infringes a patent held by Amgen Inc. The court refused to lift an injunction entered in the fall of 2008 which barred Roche from selling Mircera in the United States. However, the injunction has since expired and Mircera is available on the US market since 2015. Use in sports
Mircera can reportedly replace traditional EPO drugs as blood doping agent in endurance sports. The drug appears to fall under section S2 of the list of substances officially prohibited - in competition and out of competition - in France and by the World Anti-Doping Agency.On July 17, 2008, Italian bicycle racer Riccardo Riccò was disqualified from the Tour de France after reports that a urine sample tested positive for Mircera. There had not previously been any public acknowledgment that a test for the new drug was being administered, or had even been developed yet. The Tour de France testing was done under the auspices of the French Cycling Federation and the French Anti-Doping Agency, not the Union Cycliste Internationale. See also
PEGylation


== References ==