Infliximab is an effective drug that can be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease (including patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) and can reduce the immune response to covid-19 infection. The latest issue of “Intestine” magazine.
On the one hand, the drug is associated with an increased risk of coronavirus reinfection and a higher sensitivity to coronavirus. Lasting symbiosis. On the other hand, according to the authors of this new work, if coronaviruses infect these patients on time, they may act as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 and promote the emergence of new variants.
The author recommends that patients treated with infliximab should be monitored more closely after receiving the covid-19 vaccine
The authors suggest that patients receiving infliximab treatment should be monitored more closely after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine to ensure that they get a good antibody response to protect themselves from infection.
Infliximab belongs to a class of drugs called tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) inhibitors. These drugs inhibit the production of inflammatory proteins involved in the development of various diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Approximately 2 million people worldwide receive anti-TNF therapy, and the vaccine is known to reduce immune protection after vaccination against pneumonia, influenza and viral hepatitis. At the same time, it increases the risk of serious infections, especially respiratory infections.
Approximately 2 million people worldwide receive anti-TNF therapy, such as infliximab
Therefore, the British authorities recommend that people taking these drugs should provide greater protection from the pandemic through the following channels: Protocol shielding Or block covid-19.
Antibodies can be detected in less than half of patients
These results come from research Clarity IBDThe study recruited 6,935 patients with inflammatory bowel disease or IBD from 92 hospitals in the UK between September 2020 and December 2020. The goal is to find out the effects of biological therapies (such as infliximab) and immunomodulatory therapies on SARS-CoV-2 and IBD patients.
To compare the effect of the drug on the immune response, they also studied patients taking vedolizumab, which has a similar dose to infliximab, but has nothing to do with increased risk of infection or decreased immune response.
Low antibody response increases the likelihood that these people will not be able to develop protection after covid-19 and are at higher risk of reinfection
Tariq Ahmad, Research Director, CLARITY IBD
Although the two groups of patients (4,685 patients who received infliximab treatment and patients who received 2,250 vedolizumab treatments) had similar COVID-19 infection rates, the researchers found that they had received infliximab treatment Of the IBD patients, less than half (48%) are infected with SARS-CoV-2, compared to 83% with other drug treatments.
In addition, patients who took vedolizumab saw an increase in coronavirus antibodies after four weeks, but patients who took infliximab did not.
Tariq Ahmad, Director of CLARITY Research and Research at the University of Exeter, UK, pointed out that the low antibody response observed in infliximab patients “increased the After being infected with COVID-19, the possibility of protection cannot be developed. And the risk of being infected again is higher. On the other hand, it does not recommend how the use of this drug (and other anti-TNF) affects vaccination, although it recommends that it should be closely monitored.
This research was developed by Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital NHS Foundation As well as the University of Exeter School of Medicine, and received strong support from the Crohn and Colitis Association of the United Kingdom and the National Institutes of Health (National Institutes of Health).
Research limitations
This work is based on an observational study, and the author emphasizes that it is not yet possible to establish a clear reason why the immune response to covid-19 is reduced. The researchers also acknowledged other limitations, such as a weaker immune response that does not automatically translate into an increased risk of infection, and only studied one anti-TNF drug.
The researchers acknowledged certain research limitations, such as a weak immune response that does not automatically translate into an increased risk of infection.
However, they believe that the weakened antibody response has many implications. For example, these patients may be more prone to persistent COVID-19 and chronic colonization of the virus in the nose and throat. They warned: “This may play a role in driving the continued spread of new variants of the coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2.”
They concluded: “Serological tests and virus surveillance should be considered to detect insufficient responses to vaccines, persistent infections and virus evolution.”
reference:
Kennedy NA, Goodhand JR, Bewshea C, and others. “Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody response is weakened in IBD patients treated with infliximab.” Guts (2021). DOI: 10.1136 / gutjnl-2021-324388