Effects of Biologic Therapies on the Chance of COVID-19 Infection Among Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus Patients During the First Wave of the Pandemic.

ABSTRACT

Background: Patients with rheumatic diseases taking immunosuppressive medications might be at an increased risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Despite the effectiveness of using combined conventional and biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs(bDMARDs) in managing rheumatic diseases, there have been concerns that taking biological agents may have an additive effect on getting infected with COVID-19. This study evaluates the impact of taking biological agents on altering the chance of getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 in rheumatoid and lupus patients compared to traditional DMARDs. Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional survey study from February 2020 to January 2021 on patients diagnosed with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis disease. COVID-19 infection was confirmed by the presence of symptoms and signs of the disease and para-clinical findings such as lymphopenia and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) and positive chest CT scan or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of COVID-19. Results: Out of 591 patients included in this study, 422 (71.4%) had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 169 (28.6%) had systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Among them, 56 (9.5%) cases were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. No association was found between age, gender, or type of rheumatological diseases and SARS-CoV-2. There was a significant association between COVID-19 infection and treatment with biological drugs (P-value<0.05) regardless of the type of rheumatologic disease. Interestingly, the analysis revealed that the type of biologic drug also altered the chance of COVID-19 infection; In fact, patients who took TNF inhibitors were significantly at a higher risk of disease than those taking Rituximab (P-value=0.000). Identical results were observed among RA patients (P-value<0.001), however, all 5 (3%) lupus cases treated with Rituximab infected with covid 19. Conclusion: This study develops a better understanding of the risk of immunosuppressive medications for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients treated with conventional and biological medicine had a higher disease risk than those taking exclusively conventional drugs. However, more studies are required to deliberate the relation of the reviewed factors with the severity of COVID-19.