Rheumatoid arthritisThe Risk of Infections with Biologic Therapies for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Section snippets
Methods
As a primary decision, only published data were considered for this review. Additionally, the decision was made to maintain the article as a review rather than a meta-analysis to permit a wider range of articles and abstracts of varying quality to be included. Potential limitations of this approach are acknowledged, where appropriate.
The primary information for this article was gathered from a search of the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane (Clinical Trials Register and Systematic Reviews) databases
Discussion
This review of the literature on infections in patients receiving biological agents shows that our knowledge of this area is based on a mixture of results from randomized controlled trials, observational studies, and case reports of unequal quality. Furthermore, the literature is difficult to synthesize as a result of the heterogeneity of the populations and the widely different metrics used to present the data. Despite these substantial limitations, it is possible to draw certain conclusions
Acknowledgment
Support for third-party writing assistance for this manuscript, furnished by Neil Anderson, was provided by Genentech, Inc. and Biogen Idec.
References (150)
- et al.
Cytokine production of stimulated whole blood cultures in rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving short-term infliximab therapy
Cytokine
(2005) - et al.
Is IL-1 a good therapeutic target in the treatment of arthritis?
Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol
(2006) Co-morbidity in rheumatoid arthritis
Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol
(2003)- et al.
Therapeutic effect of the combination of etanercept and methotrexate compared with each treatment alone in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: double-blind randomised controlled trial
Lancet
(2004) - et al.
Severe pyogenic infections in patients taking infliximab: a regional cohort study
Jt Bone Spine
(2005) - et al.
[Retrospective analysis of adverse effects of infliximab in a hospital rheumatology service]
Therapie
(2003) - et al.
Mycobacterium abscessus infection after use of tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor therapy: case report and review of infectious complications associated with tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor use
Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis
(2005) - et al.
Pneumococcal meningitis and etanercept—chance or association?
J Infect
(2005) - et al.
Septic arthritis due to Roseomonas mucosa in a rheumatoid arthritis patient receiving infliximab therapy
Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis
(2006) - et al.
Reactivation of brucellosis after treatment with infliximab in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis
J Infect
(2005)