Permanent renal loss following tumor necrosis factor α antagonists for arthritis

Adalimumab as a cause of kidney injury in patients with Crohn's disease

INTRODUCTION

Adalimumab (ADM) is a recombinant human monoclonal antibody (anti-TNFα) used to treat inflammatory bowel diseases. It can cause kidney injury (KI).

CASE DIAGNOSIS/TREATMENT

We describe two pediatric patients with Crohn's disease (CD) in whom ADM therapy was associated with kidney injury (KI). The drug was discontinued in both cases. For the first patient, changes were irreversible despite intensive glucocorticosteroid (GCS) therapy. For the second patient, discontinuation of ADM led to an improvement in kidney function.

CONCLUSIONS

Due to the risk of KI in patients undergoing ADM therapy, careful assessment of kidney function and early specialist referral are required. Timely withdrawal of ADM can significantly reduce kidney damage, but in some cases, the kidney damage can be irreversible.

Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis in an HLA-B27-positive patient with axial spondyloarthritis being treated with adalimumab

Antagonists of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (ATNF) are used for the treatment of multiple diseases such as psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease, ankylosing spondylitis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, usually, when they are refractory to first-line treatment¹. The use of ATNF has been associated with the induction of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus-like disease, vasculitis, sarcoidosis-like diseases and, recently, acute granulomatous tubulointerstitial nephritis. We report a case of acute nongranulomatous tubulointerstitial nephritis in an HLA-B27-positive patient with axial spondyloarthritis and Crohn's disease being treated with adalimumab.

Biologics-induced autoimmune renal disorders in chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases: systematic literature review and analysis of a monocentric cohort

The use of biologic drugs has been linked with the paradoxical development of systemic and organ specific autoimmune processes. The aim of this study was to describe the features of biologics-induced autoimmune renal disorders (AIRD) through a systematic review and a cohort study of 707 adult patients affected with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Ankylosing Spondylitis (SA) and Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA). The literature search identified 2687 articles of which 21 were considered relevant for the present study, accounting for 26 case reports. The cohort analysis retrieved 3 cases. According to clinical manifestations and kidney histology the identified AIRD cases were classified as: a) glomerulonephritis associated with systemic vasculitis (GNSV), b) glomerulonephritis in lupus-like syndrome (GNLS), c) isolated autoimmune renal disorders (IARD). Twenty-two out of 29 cases with AIRD were reported in patients affected by RA, 5 in AS and 2 in PsA. The biologic drug most frequently associated with development of AIRD was Etanercept (15 cases, 51.7%), followed by Adalimumab (9 cases, 31.0%) and Infliximab (3 cases, 10.3%) while Tocilizumab and Abatacept were reported in 1 case (3.4%) for each. Thirteen out of 29 (44.8%) cases were classified as affected by IARD, 12 (41.3%) as GNSV and 4 (13.9%) as GNLS. Worse prognosis was associated with GNSV and lack of biologic withdrawal. Although rare, AIRD may be life-threatening and may lead to renal failure and death. If AIRD occurs, biologic drugs must be stopped and patient should be treated according to clinical manifestations and kidney biopsy findings.