IgA Vasculitis in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: new insights into the role of TNF-α blockers

Isolated Celiac Artery Vasculitis Presenting as Ileus in a Patient With Ulcerative Colitis

There is a known association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and vasculitis, which can present with mesenteric ischemia or cutaneous manifestations. Infliximab, an anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) used to treat IBD, has been implicated as a potential culprit. We present a unique case of a patient with ulcerative colitis who developed isolated celiac artery vasculitis presenting with abdominal pain and ileus after decreasing his dosage of azathioprine. Vasculitis resolved with steroids and increasing azathioprine dosage, while continuing anti-TNF therapy, suggesting that anti-TNF agents are not the only cause of vasculitis in patients with IBD or that thiopurines may be protective.

Cutaneous adverse drug reactions

Cutaneous adverse drug reactions (ADRs) represent a heterogeneous field including various clinical patterns without specific features suggesting drug causality. Maculopapular exanthema and urticaria are the most common types of cutaneous ADR. Serious cutaneous ADRs, which may cause permanent sequelae or have fatal outcome, may represent 2% of all cutaneous ADR and must be quickly identified to guide their management. These serious reactions include bullous manifestations (epidermal necrolysis i.e. Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis), drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) and acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP). Some risk factors for developing cutaneous ADRs have been identified, including immunosuppression, autoimmunity or genetic variants. All drugs can cause cutaneous ADRs, the most commonly implicated being antibiotics (especially aminopenicillins and sulfonamides), anticonvulsants, allopurinol, antineoplastic drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and iodinated contrast media. Pathophysiology is related to immediate or delayed "idiosyncratic" immunologic mechanisms, i.e., usually not related to dose, and pharmacologic/toxic mechanisms, commonly dose-dependent and/or time-dependent. If an immuno-allergic mechanism is suspected, allergological explorations (including epicutaneous patch testing and/or intradermal test) are often possible to clarify drug causality, however these have a variable sensitivity according to the drug and to the ADR type. No in vivo or in vitro test can consistently confirm the drug causality. To determine the origin of a rash, a logical approach based on clinical characteristics, chronologic factors and elimination of differential diagnosis (especially infectious etiologies) is required, completed with a literature search. Reporting to pharmacovigilance system is therefore essential both to analyze drug causality at individual level, and to contribute to knowledge of the drug at population level, especially for serious cutaneous ADRs or in cases involving newly marketed drugs.

Mendelian randomization analysis reveals causality of inflammatory bowel disease on risks of Henoch-Schönlein purpura and immune thrombocytopenia

BACKGROUND

Emerging clinical evidence has been discovered associating Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). However, it is unclear whether a cause-effect relationship exists between them. We aimed to examine the casual effect of IBD on the risk of HSP and ITP.

METHODS

Based on summary statistics from International IBD Genetics (IIBDG) Consortium and FinnGen study, a two-sample Mendelian randomization study was carried out to determine whether IBD including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) is causally related to HSP, ITP or secondary thrombocytopenia. To support the results, a variety of sensitivity analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Significant causal relationships between IBD and HSP (odds ratios = 1.20, 95% confidence interval: 1.07-1.36, adjusted P = 0.006) and ITP (odds ratios =1.22, 95% confidence interval: 1.08-1.38, adjusted P = 0.006) were found. Both genetically predicted UC and CD were positively related with ITP, while CD alone may be responsible for the higher risk of HSP. Besides, no significant association was observed between IBD and secondary thrombocytopenia.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this Mendelian randomization study supported the causal association of IBD with HSP and ITP. Taken together, our findings may present implications for management of IBD.

Active flare of IgA nephropathy during long-term therapy with anti-tumor necrosis factor-α antibody drugs for Crohn's disease: three case reports and literature review

In recent years, increasing numbers of reports have described new onset or active disease flare of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) during administration of TNF-α inhibitor (TNFi) therapy for chronic inflammatory diseases. Crohn's disease (CD) is the most common indication for TNFi therapy in this clinical setting, but the underlying etiology of IgAN in such patients remains unclear. We report our experience with three patients who developed acute worsening of preexisting urinalysis abnormalities and kidney dysfunction approximately 2 to 6 years after TNFi administration for CD. Kidney biopsies at the time of kidney disease flare revealed IgAN in two patients and IgAN complicated by acute tubulointerstitial nephritis in one patient. The CD and IgAN in all three patients were successfully managed with additional corticosteroid therapy and tonsillectomy without discontinuing TNFi therapy. The clinical course of our patients and similar patients described in the literature suggests that TNFi therapy for CD is associated with a relatively high risk for new onset or disease flare of IgAN. This report discusses the possible involvement of Th1/Th2 imbalance on the immunological background of CD or IgAN.

[Immunoglobulin A vasculitis (IgAV)]

IgA vasculitis (IgAV) is an immune complex-mediated vasculitis characterized by IgA1-dominant immune deposits in small vessels. It is the most common systemic vasculitis in childhood with a mostly uncomplicated and self-limiting course. Adults are less affected but the course is frequently more complicated and more frequently accompanied by renal involvement. IgAV characteristically manifests itself on the skin with palpable purpura and in joints, the kidneys and the gastrointestinal tract. In cases of incomplete or atypical symptoms a differential diagnostic work-up is required. A number of triggers have been suggested, especially infections and drugs. Disease management is tailored to organ manifestations and the severity of the symptoms. For children, optimized supportive care and targeted symptom relief are usually sufficient. Management of renal and gastrointestinal manifestations follows recommendations for ANCA-associated vasculitis and IgA nephropathy. Treatment options include glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive agents with varying and mostly insufficient evidence.

Drug Survival of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Inhibitors and Switched Subsequent Biologic Agents in Patients with Psoriasis: A Retrospective Study

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to retrospectively examine the drug survival of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha inhibitors and switched subsequent biologic agents after discontinuation of TNF inhibitors.

METHODS

This real-world setting study was conducted at a single academic center. We included patients who were treated with adalimumab (n = 111), certolizumab pegol (n = 12), and infliximab (n = 74) at Jichi Medical University Hospital from 1 January 2010 to 31 July 2021.

RESULTS

No significant differences were noted in drug survival between the three TNF inhibitors. The 10-year drug survival rate for adalimumab and infliximab was 14% and 18%, respectively. Of the patients who discontinued TNF inhibitors for any reason (n = 137), 105 chose biologics as their subsequent treatment. The subsequent biologics included 31 cases of TNF inhibitors (adalimumab in 20, certolizumab pegol in 1, and infliximab in 10), 19 of interleukin-12/23 inhibitor (ustekinumab), 42 of interleukin-17 inhibitors (secukinumab in 19, brodalumab in 9, and ixekizumab in 14) and 13 of interleukin-23 inhibitors (guselkumab in 11, risankizumab in 1, and tildrakizumab in 1). Cox proportional hazards analysis for the subsequent drugs in cases of discontinuation due to inadequate efficacy revealed that female sex was a predictor of drug discontinuation (hazard ratio 2.58, 95% confidence interval 1.17-5.70) and that taking interleukin-17 inhibitors rather than TNF inhibitors was a predictor of drug persistence (hazard ratio 0.37, 95% confidence interval 0.15-0.93).

CONCLUSIONS

Interleukin-17 inhibitors may be a favorable option for patients who need to switch from TNF inhibitors due to inadequate efficacy. However, this study is limited by the small number of cases and its retrospective design.

Tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor-related immune disorders

Biotechnological monoclonal antibodies and receptor antagonists capable of targeting specific inflammatory actors, such as cytokines, cytokines receptors, co-stimulatory molecules or leukocyte populations, have emerged as an alternative to conventional therapies for treating systemic inflammatory diseases with immune pathogenesis. However, there is no doubt that, with a frequency that is not exceptionally high but also not negligible, immunotherapies can favour the development of systemic and organ-specific immune-mediated disorders. It has become increasingly evident that interference with a specific immune pathway may favour the activation of opposing compensatory signalling, which may exacerbate underlying subclinical disorders or cause immune-mediated diseases completely different from the underlying disease. The 'compensatory immunological switch' has emerged primarily in patients treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -α inhibitors, the first biological drugs approved for treating systemic inflammatory diseases with immune pathogenesis. In this Review, we describe the clinical features and predisposing factors of the main TNF-α inhibitor-related immune disorders, organising them into subclinical serological autoimmunity, autoimmune disorders other than those for which TNF-α inhibitors are indicated, and paradoxical reactions. We also discuss the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms and precautions for use in the therapeutic management of these patients. Better understanding of the complex phenomenon of the 'compensatory immunological switch', which TNF-α inhibitors and other biological drugs might trigger, can help not only appropriately managing immune-mediated disorders, but also better interpreting the heterogeneity of the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying certain chronic inflammatory conditions that, although different from each other, are arbitrarily placed in the context of overly generic nosological entities.

Adjunctive treatment with infliximab in pediatric immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis: A case report

Immunoglobulin A vasculitis (IgAV) is the most common childhood vasculitis affecting small vessels. No clear recommendations are available for severe pediatric cases, and until now, anti-TNF agents have had a limited role in IgAV management. In this report, we describe a pediatric case of severe IgAV, successfully treated with combined therapy including the anti-TNF, infliximab.