Cytokine patterns and immune activation in patients with Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) seem to resemble the case of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Biological drugs, such as anti-tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin (IL) inhibitors, appear to be protective against adverse outcomes of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, these treatments are associated with an increased risk of secondary infections. The aim of the study was to examine the association between the use of immunomodulatory drugs and the risk of SARS-CoV-2-associated positivity, hospitalization and death compared to other commonly prescribed treatment regimens among patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.
Methods: All patients with RA, Psoriasis and IBD were included in this observational analysis and treated with anti-TNFα, IL-inhibitors, Methotrexate (MTX) and Sulfasalazine drugs during the year 2020-2021. The population consisted of 932 patients and demographic, clinical and pharmacological data were analyzed.
Results: Although no significant differences were observed between patients treated with biological and synthetic drugs in terms of hospitalization and death, the multivariate logistic model showed that the type of drug influences the possibility of COVID-19 positivity.
Conclusions: The results of this analysis support the use of biological drugs and justify further research investigating the association of these biological therapies with COVID-19 outcomes.
Keywords: COVID-19; IL-inhibitors; SARS-CoV-2; anti-TNFα; death; hospitalization; inflammatory bowel disease; positivity; psoriasis; rheumatoid arthritis.