Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a patient treated by etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis (RA): just a coincidence?
We describe a patient in whom sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) occurred one year after the onset of etanercept therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This association could be a chance occurrence. However, TNF-alpha has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration in sCJD and etanercept might worsen the disease. Such an aggravation has been observed in multiple sclerosis, in which TNF-alpha is the key mediator of demyelination. It may be of interest studying the impact of treatment with TNF-alpha antagonists on prevalence and incidence of those neurodegenerative diseases involving TNF-alpha mediation, such as Alzheimer disease.
Soubrier
Martin
M
Service de rhumatologie, hôpital G. Montpied, place Henri-Dunant, BP 69, 63003 Clermont-Ferrand, France. msoubrier@chu-clermontferrand.fr
Haïk
Stéphane
S
Hauw
Jean-Jacques
JJ
Corvol
Jean Christophe
JC
Lyon-Caen
Olivier
O
Dougados
Maxime
M
D000368:Aged; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D000068800:Etanercept; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000068800:Etanercept