Biologics may not increase respiratory infection risk in hidradenitis suppurativa
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Biologic therapies were not associated with an elevated risk for respiratory infections compared with placebo in a meta-analysis of patients being treated for hidradenitis suppurativa.
“Patients treated with biological therapy for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are at an increased risk of infectious complications,” Michael M. Mehta, BMSc, of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “However, it is unclear whether these patients are at an increased risk of acquiring infections.”
The researchers suggested that respiratory tract infections are the most reported infectious event in this patient population.
In the systematic review and meta-analysis of clinicaltrials.gov and Medline and Embase databases, Mehta and colleagues assessed risk factors and incidence rates for not only respiratory tract infections, but also nasopharyngitis and influenza as a function of biologic therapy for the treatment of HS.
Nine studies were included in the final analysis. The data set included five placebo-controlled trials.
Biologic drug classes included in the analysis were tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors and interleukin (IL)-17 inhibitors.
Results indicated that the risk for upper respiratory tract infections was not elevated in HS patients treated with biologics compared with those in placebo groups (RR = 1.23; 95% CI, 0.66-2.3).
Similar findings were reported for nasopharyngitis (RR = 0.93; 95% CI, 0.66-1.31) and influenza (RR = 1.03; 95% CI, 0.41-2.56) in HS patients treated with biologics compared with placebo.
The researchers noted that the findings of their meta-analysis were consistent with the findings reported in the individual studies and clinical trials.
The small sample size and number of studies were key limitations of the data set.
“This systematic review and meta-analysis did not find significantly different risks of [upper respiratory tract infections], nasopharyngitis and influenza in patients taking biological therapy when compared to placebo,” the researchers concluded. “Future high-quality, high-power and long-term studies are needed to support the data available on this topic.”