Reiter syndrome triggered by adalimumab (Humira�) and leflunomide (Arava�) in a patient with ankylosing spondylarthropathy and Crohn disease

Cutaneous side effects of anti-tumor necrosis factor biologic therapy: a clinical review

BACKGROUND

Anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) biologic agents have been associated with a number of adverse events.

OBJECTIVE

To review the cutaneous reactions that have been reported in patients receiving anti-TNF therapy.

METHODS

We performed a systematic MEDLINE search of relevant publications, including case reports and case series.

RESULTS

Reported cutaneous events included infusion and injection site reactions, psoriasiform eruptions, lupus-like disorders, vasculitis, granulomatous reactions, cutaneous infections, and cutaneous neoplasms. Infusion reactions and injection site reactions were definitely associated with anti-TNF administration, whereas all other events had a varying strength of association and severity, not necessarily requiring drug discontinuation.

LIMITATIONS

Most information was derived from spontaneous case reports, where ascertainment biases and frequency of reporting may impair detection methodology and causal relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

As anti-TNF biologic agents are progressively being used in clinical practice, cutaneous adverse events will be encountered more frequently. Until more data are accumulated with respect to their pathogenesis and potential association with anti-TNF therapy, dermatologists should become more familiar with the clinical presentation and management of such events.

[What's new in clinical dermatology?]

For this What's new in clinical dermatology?, I have selected some important publications mainly in the field of the infectious dermatosis and drugs allergy. The Chikungunya virus which is responsible of several epidemics since 2005 seems to be a virus with a cutaneous tropism. Sexually transmitted diseases are still a public health problem and we shall review the situation for syphilis, lymphogranuloma venereum and the new dynamic profile of HIV in France. Lyme disease has been the subject of consensus conference in France and in the United States. Original clinical presentations in relation with infectious agent will be also presented. We shall give a large place to what I call the toxidermatology. During the year 2007, the role of gadolinium in the nephrogenic systemic fibrosis has been confirmed, many publications have reported the side effects of biotherapies on the skin and we shall emphasize the paradoxical of some of them. Hypersensitivity syndrome and notably the controversial role of viral reactivations has been reported. The relationship between psoriasis and metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular risks has been discussed since 2006. New clinical features have been described and will be presented during this session.

Cutaneous manifestations in inflammatory bowel diseases: eight cases of psoriasis induced by anti-tumor-necrosis-factor antibody therapy

BACKGROUND

Ulcerous rectocolitis and Crohn's disease are the best known forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Skin manifestations are not uncommon in IBD and may be divided into specific cutaneous signs, aspecific cutaneous signs, and cutaneous signs caused by drugs used for IBD therapy. The specific signs (fistulas, rhagades and ulcers) are the result of the diffusion of the intestinal inflammatory process into the skin. Aspecific cutaneous signs (stomatic aphthosis, erythema nodosum, pyoderma gangrenosum, Sweet's syndrome, vasculitis, bullous diseases) are quite frequently found in those suffering from IBD, but also in apparently healthy subjects, and may sometimes be the first sign of the intestinal disease. Cutaneous manifestations due to drugs vary in clinical aspect and are the direct consequence of the therapies adopted, which in IBD patients can be quite numerous: steroids, immunosuppressants, 5-aminosalicylic acid, biological agents, antibiotics.

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS

Due to the frequent finding of cutaneous manifestations in patients affected by IBD, a collaboration was set up between the Dermatological Clinic of the University of Bologna and the Center for the Study of IBD of the same university hospital. The aim was to diagnose the cutaneous signs appearing during IBD and to establish their etiopathogenesis in order to assess whether they were the result of epiphenomena of the IBD or side effects of the therapies adopted.

RESULTS

The cutaneous manifestations we observed can be divided into three distinct groups: signs that were specific to the basic disease, aspecific signs and finally signs attributable to the drugs used for therapy. Particular attention was given to the aspecific signs and those consequential to therapy. The aspecific cutaneous signs seen in our clinic generally reflect those reported in the literature. The cutaneous manifestations due to drugs were further divided into three groups: rosacea, acneiform dermatitis and psoriasis-like dermatitis. The most notable aspect of our series is the high number of patients presenting psoriasiform-type dermatitides with a generally widespread diffusion.

CONCLUSION

We would like to draw attention to the fact that all patients with psoriasis had been undergoing treatment with drugs inhibiting tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) as part of IBD therapy. In all cases, the cutaneous reaction started after the third or fourth infusion of the biological drug. Anti-TNF-alpha agents have also been successfully used to treat psoriasis in the last few years. The reason for this apparently paradoxical effect of the therapy is still unclear.