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Defining The Link Between Anti-TNF Therapies And Increased Tuberculosis

Date:
April 20, 2009
Source:
Journal of Clinical Investigation
Summary:
Although anti-TNF therapies have dramatically improved the life of many individuals with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, these therapies have been associated with an increased incidence of tuberculosis. New research in human patients taking the anti-TNF therapy infliximab has now defined a mechanism by which an anti-TNF therapy impairs host defense against tuberculosis.
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The life of many individuals with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis has been dramatically improved by treatment with drugs that target the protein TNF, so called anti-TNF therapies. However, anti-TNF therapies can decrease the ability of the immune system to fight infections and have been associated with an increased incidence of tuberculosis.

By studying the immune cells of patients before and after treatment with the anti-TNF therapy infliximab Steffen Stenger and colleagues, at the University Hospital of Ulm, Germany, have been able to identify a mechanism by which an anti-TNF therapy impairs host defense against tuberculosis.

In the study, a subset of CD8-expressing effector memory immune T cells characterized by expression of the proteins CD45RA and granulysin (which the authors termed CD45RA+ effector memory CD8+ T cells) were identified as having a major role in targeting the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis). Furthermore, numbers of CD45RA+ effector memory CD8+ T cells were reduced in patients following treatment with infliximab.

As this correlated with a decreased ability of peripheral blood from the patients to kill M. tuberculosis, the authors conclude that the loss of this immune cell subset provides a mechanism to explain the reactivation of latent tuberculosis infection in some individuals being treated with infliximab.

In an accompanying commentary, Elizabeth Miller and Joel Ernst, at New York University School of Medicine, New York, discuss the clinical importance of these data and highlight some of the possibilities that they raise.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Journal of Clinical Investigation. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Bruns et al. Anti-TNF immunotherapy reduces CD8 T cell–mediated antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in humans
. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2009; DOI: 10.1172/JCI38482

Cite This Page:

Journal of Clinical Investigation. "Defining The Link Between Anti-TNF Therapies And Increased Tuberculosis." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 April 2009. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420182155.htm>.
Journal of Clinical Investigation. (2009, April 20). Defining The Link Between Anti-TNF Therapies And Increased Tuberculosis. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 15, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420182155.htm
Journal of Clinical Investigation. "Defining The Link Between Anti-TNF Therapies And Increased Tuberculosis." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420182155.htm (accessed October 15, 2024).

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