1. Occurrence of Serious Infection in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Biologics and Denosumab Observed in a Clinical Setting
- Author
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George Ioannidis, Akhila Balasubramanian, Robert Bensen, Celia J. F. Lin, Rod Rodjanapiches, William G. Bensen, Arthur N. Lau, Matthew Wong-Pack, Jonathan D. Adachi, Nicola Pannacciulli, Patrick Roy-Gayos, Sally W. Wade, and Leslie Spangler
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Canada ,Opportunistic infection ,Immunology ,Osteoporosis ,Serious infection ,Opportunistic Infections ,Arthritis, Rheumatoid ,Cohort Studies ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Rheumatology ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Immunology and Allergy ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Aged ,030203 arthritis & rheumatology ,Biological Products ,Bone Density Conservation Agents ,business.industry ,Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ,Risk of infection ,Incidence (epidemiology) ,Incidence ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Surgery ,Denosumab ,Treatment Outcome ,Rheumatoid arthritis ,Antirheumatic Agents ,Drug Therapy, Combination ,Female ,business ,medicine.drug ,Follow-Up Studies - Abstract
Objective.Previous studies combining biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have shown an increased risk of infection. However, the risk of infection with concurrent use of denosumab, a biologic agent for the treatment of osteoporosis, and a bDMARD remains unclear. Here, we evaluated the incidence of serious and opportunistic infections in patients treated concurrently with denosumab and a bDMARD and patients treated with a bDMARD alone.Methods.A chart review of patients with RA from 2 Canadian rheumatology practices between July 1, 2010, and July 31, 2014, identified 2 groups of patients: those taking denosumab and a bDMARD concurrently (concurrent group) and those taking only a bDMARD (biologic-alone group). Patients were followed from the time of initiation of denosumab, or a matched index date for the biologic-alone group, to the end of the study or loss to followup. Instances of serious or opportunistic infections were recorded.Results.A total of 308 patients (n = 102 for the concurrent group and n = 206 for the biologic-alone group) were evaluated. Within the concurrent group, 3 serious infection events occurred. Within the biologic-alone group, 4 serious infection events and 1 opportunistic infection event occurred. In both groups, all patients with serious or opportunistic infection recovered, and there were no instances of death during the study period.Conclusion.This study demonstrated a low occurrence of serious and opportunistic infections in patients with RA taking bDMARD, including patients with concurrent denosumab use.
- Published
- 2017