Asthma-like symptoms in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis and Adalimumab treatment

After the introduction of anti-TNFα medication for treatment of autoimmune conditions, clinicians have investigated not only other possible uses for the drugs, but also less common side-effects and interactions with other pathologies. Despite some succes registered with Adalimumab as an antiinflammatory agent in severe asthma, there have been case reports of patients developing asthma or asthma-like symptoms following anti-TNFα therapy. The case presents a patient without previous family or personal history of respiratory or atopic conditions that developed bronchospasm immediately after the initiation of Adalimumab and Methotrexate treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Despite the patient presenting asthma characteristics (expiratory wheezing, dry cough, partial reversibility at post bronchodilator test) and asthma medication alleviating simtomathology, biological markers (eosenophil granulocytes in sputum, serum IgE) for asthma are absent. The relationship between bronchospasm and medication and other possible causes for her respiratory symptoms are discussed.