Anti-nuclear antibody positivity and the use of certolizumab in inflammatory bowel disease patients who have had arthralgias or lupus-like reactions from infliximab or adalimumab.

Objective: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors can be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but may lead to anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) positivity and lupus-like reactions. Because of its unique structure, certolizumab has lower rates of these complications. We sought to investigate whether patients who have had lupus-like reactions to infliximab or adalimumab would be able to tolerate certolizumab.