Maternal anti-tumour necrosis factor-α drug use during pregnancy and risk of infection in the offspring: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α drugs are used by increasing numbers of reproductive-age women. Although the neonatal outcomes have been described, there are concerns regarding the risk of infection in offspring following exposure to anti-TNF-α.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using Pubmed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database, from inception through August 2020. We evaluated the risk of infection in autoimmune disease (AID) offspring unexposed to anti-TNF-α compared to AID offspring exposed to anti-TNF-α, as well as to unexposed non-AID offspring.

Results: Our primary analysis showed that both AID offspring unexposed to anti-TNF-α [risk ratio (RR) 1.09; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03-1.16; I=0%] and AID offspring exposed to anti-TNF-α (RR 1.39; 95% CI, 1.2-1.61; I=0%] was associated with an increased risk of infection during the first year of life compared with the unexposed non-AID offspring. However, our secondary analysis demonstrated that AID offspring exposed to anti-TNF-α was not associated with an increased risk of infection when compared with AID offspring unexposed to anti-TNF-α (RR=1.1; 95% CI, 0.86-1.4).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that in utero exposure to anti-TNF-α does not appear to increase the risk of infection during the first year of life in the offspring; however, AID itself was associated with a marked excess risk of infection in the children.