title: Listeria infections associated with infliximab: case reports.
abstract: Infliximab is a human-murine chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha). Infliximab and other TNF blockers are used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). TNF blockers are suspected to play a key role in some infections. We report here two cases of Listeria monocytogenes sepsis associated with infliximab treatment for RA. The first patient developed a terminal ileitis and a bacteraemia after three doses of infliximab; the second RA patient presented a bacteraemia associated with a prosthetic joint arthritis of the left hip, both related to Listeria. Those two cases occurred in a population of 518 patients treated with TNF blockers in our hospitals since the year 2000. Those events are of particular interest because of the severity of the infection, because the treatment differs from other infections, and because that, in the rheumatology unit, septic arthritis can mimic RA symptoms. They enhance the likelihood for this drug to increase the risk for infections with germs like Listeria.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, MBLG 54.92, Avenue Hippocrate, 54, 1200, Brussels, Belgium. tk@agora.eu.org.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kesteman
authors.affiliation: Infectious diseases Department, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-Cyr
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Yombi
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, MBLG 54.92, Avenue Hippocrate, 54, 1200, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gigi
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Department, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Durez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000069285:Infliximab; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000069285:Infliximab