Review Article
Pharmacokinetics of Monoclonal Antibodies Used for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in Pregnant Women
| Rebecca H Stone1, James Hong1 and Hyunyoung Jeong12* | |
| 1Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA | |
| 2Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA | |
| Corresponding Author : | Hyunyoung Jeong, PharmD, PhD Department of Pharmacy Practice (MC 886) College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago 833 S.Wood Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA Tel: 312-996-7820 Fax: 312-996-0379 E-mail: [email protected] |
| Received June 27, 2014; Accepted August 22, 2014; Published August 25, 2014 | |
| Citation: Stone RH, Hong J, Jeong H (2014) Pharmacokinetics of Monoclonal Antibodies Used for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in Pregnant Women. J Clin Toxicol 4:209. doi:10.4172/2161-0495.1000209 | |
| Copyright: © 2014 Jeong H, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | |
| Peer-reviewed Full Article 
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a condition of chronic immune response and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Most women with IBD are affected during their reproductive years, and untreated IBD can have detrimental maternal and fetal outcomes. In recent years, many biological therapies including anti-TNF agents (infliximab, adalimumab, and certolizumab) have been developed for the treatment of IBD. An increasing number of IBD patients are treated with these agents during pregnancy. Sporadic reports suggest an absence of negative pregnancy outcomes related to use of anti-TNF agents in women with IBD. However, it is unclear if the physiological changes occurring in pregnancy alter mAb dose requirements for optimal maternal disease management and minimal fetal exposure to therapeutic antibodies. Based on current understanding of the pharmacokinetic profiles for anti-TNF agents in nonpregnant subjects, it appears very likely that physiological changes accompanying pregnancy can alter pharmacokinetics of anti-TNF agents. This review focuses on how such physiological changes may impact disposition of anti-TNF agents during pregnancy. Further improvement in pregnancy outcomes may be achieved in women with IBD by better understanding of pregnancy-mediated changes in the pharmacokinetics of anti-TNF agents.
