Occurrence of inflammatory bowel disease during treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis with etanercept: a French retrospective study

Objectives. To identify juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients who developed IBD during treatment with anti-TNF-α agents and better characterize the IBD clinical and pathological presentation. Methods. A retrospective French multicentre study included patients with a diagnosis of JIA according to the ILAR criteria who developed IBD while under anti-TNF-α therapy before 18 years of age. Intestinal biopsies were collected and reviewed by the same pathologist. Results. Eight patients were included. They had been treated with etanercept from 11 to 78 months before IBD onset. Gastro-intestinal symptoms included abdominal pain (six patients), diarrhoea (four patients), anorexia (four patients), anal abscess (three patients) and oral ulcers (one patient). Five patients presented with Crohn's disease (CD) and three with indeterminate IBD, of whom four had severe pancolitis. Clinical remission of IBD was obtained in all patients after discontinuation of etanercept and initiation of IBD-specific therapy, including infliximab in six patients. Conclusion. IBD must be suspected in JIA patients treated with etanercept who develop intestinal symptoms, including anal abscess. This series raises the possibility of a relationship between etanercept therapy and the occurrence of IBD in a subset of patients with JIA.