https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2009.165

TNFα blockers and infectious risk in rheumatoid arthritis

Vol. 61 No. 3 (2009)
Abstract Views: 1527
PDF: 2051
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

B. Raffeiner
office@pagepress.org
C. Botsios
F. Ometto
L. Bernardi
A. Montante
P. Sfriso
S. Todesco
L. Punzi
Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis have increased risk of infections when compared with general population. The risk depends directly from disease activity and severity. Furthermore, risk increases with aging, immunosuppressive agents and comorbidities such as diabetes, pulmonary and cardiac diseases. In particular corticosteroids, even at low doses, are a major risk factor. Due to disease related risk it is difficult to separate the risk deriving from the use of TNF alpha blockers. Data from clinical trials, meta-analysis and national registers are somewhat contradictory. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis on routine follow-up, treatment with TNF alpha blockers seems to carry an increased risk of infections compared to traditional DMARDs but not associated with increased risk of overall serious infection. Physicians should carefully monitor for signs of infection when using TNF alpha blockers, particularly shortly after treatment initiation.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

How to Cite

Raffeiner, B., Botsios, C., Ometto, F., Bernardi, L., Montante, A., Sfriso, P., … Punzi, L. (2009). TNFα blockers and infectious risk in rheumatoid arthritis. Reumatismo, 61(3), 165–173. https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2009.165

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.