Rheumatoid arthritis drugs, also known as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, don't raise the risk of serious infection when compared with more conventional treatments, according to a new analysis in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"The possibility that TNF inhibitors such as Humira and Enbrel pose no additional infection risk is a "very new and heretical idea," says David T. Felson, M.D., a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Boston University School of Medicine, who cowrote an editorial accompanying the study, CNN reports. "Up until now there has been considerable evidence that anti-TNFs heightened the risk of serious infection compared to other treatments."
But Felson adds that the new findings aren't sufficient to quell the concerns raised by previous studies, according to CNN.
"We still need to be concerned about serious infection risk among patients starting these medicines," he says, as reported by CNN.
Previous studies have found that TNF inhibitors as much as double the risk of serious infection compared with other treatment options, according to CNN. But those trials tended to be relatively small.
Autoimmune conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease, arise when the body's immune system goes awry and begins attacking healthy cells and tissue, CNN reports. TNF inhibitors, derived from substances that occur naturally in humans and animals, work by blocking the action of TNF, an important immune-system molecule.
The study, which was presented this weekend at an annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, was funded by the Food and Drug Administration and other federal health agencies, according to CNN.
