THE IMMUNOGENICITY ERA – WHAT SHOULD WE KNOW ON ANTI-TNFS IN SPONDYLOARTHRITIS PATIENTS?

Spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients do not respond uniformly to TNF inhibitor therapy, some of them losing their beneficial evolution and becoming primary or secondary non-responders. Hence, questions have been raised whether this situation is linked to predictive genetic factors, individual characteristics or to disease activity. Studies have incriminated immunogenicity as being responsible for the loss or lack of response. It appears that the development of anti-drug antibodies leads to a decrease in drug levels with further impact on patients’ clinical state. This brief review aims to clarify some of the processes involved in the immunogenic phenomenon for patients with SpA, based on the current published literature.