Drug Found to Increase the Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Anti-TNFα agents were essential in the management of various autoimmune diseases, but paradoxically, they found to initiate the development of other autoimmune conditions.

In an Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics study of 17,018 individuals with autoimmune diseases who were treated with anti-TNFα medications--mostly infliximab, etanercept, and adalimumab--and 63,308 individuals who were not, treatment with etanercept, but not other antiTNFα agents, was linked with an elevated risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease: a twofold increased risk of Crohn's disease and a twofold increased risk of ulcerative colitis.

‘Clinicians should be careful while delivering proper health care to patients taking etanercept as it increases the risk of other autoimmune diseases.’

"This study established that there is an increased risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease in individuals taking etanercept. Recognition of this phenomenon is important for clinicians taking care of these patients," said lead author Joshua Korzenik, MD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston. "Perhaps more importantly, this study suggests that inflammatory bowel disease may be one of the auto-immune diseases that can be provoked by anti-TNFα agents. This suggests that there may be a common mechanism of immune dysregulation underpinning these diseases."



Source: Eurekalert