RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The effect of anti-tumour necrosis factor α treatment on the antibody response to influenza vaccination
JF Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
JO Ann Rheum Dis
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and European League Against Rheumatism
SP 713
OP 716
DO 10.1136/ard.2007.077552
VO 67
IS 5
A1 L B S Gelinck
A1 A E van der Bijl
A1 W E P Beyer
A1 L G Visser
A1 T W J Huizinga
A1 R A van Hogezand
A1 G F Rimmelzwaan
A1 F P Kroon
YR 2008
UL http://ard.bmj.com/content/67/5/713.abstract
AB Objectives: The effect of anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy on the antibody responses to vaccines is the subject of ongoing debate. Therefore, we investigated the effect of the three currently available anti-TNF agents on influenza vaccination outcomes in a patient population with long-standing disease.Methods: In a prospective cohort study, we assessed the antibody response upon influenza vaccination in 112 patients with long-standing autoimmune disease treated with immunosuppressive medication either with anti-TNF (etanercept, adalimumab or infliximab; n = 64) or without anti-TNF (n = 48) and a control group of 18 healthy individuals. Antibody responses were determined by haemagglutination inhibition assay, before and 4 weeks after vaccination.Results: The proportion of individuals with a protective titre (⩾40) after vaccination was large (80–94%) and did not significantly differ between the three groups. Post-vaccination geometric mean antibody titres against influenza (A/H3N2 and B) were significantly lower in the 64 patients treated with anti-TNF compared with the 48 patients not receiving anti-TNF, and the healthy controls.Conclusions: The antibody response to influenza vaccination in patients treated with anti-TNF is only modestly impaired. The proportion of patients that achieves a protective titre is not significantly diminished by the use of TNF blocking therapies.