Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39143434›Full record

ReviewInfection2025

Disseminated, fatal reactivation of bovine tuberculosis in a patient treated with adalimumab: a case report and review of the literature.

Gioele Capoferri, Giovanni Ghielmetti, Bettina Glatz, Markus R Mutke, Alexandar Tzankov, Roger Stephan, Peter M Keller, Niklaus D Labhardt

Abstract readCase ReportsReview
In one paragraph

Review in Infection, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Disseminated PrimaryCase reports in infectious diseases · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Infectious disease reports · 2025
    Article
  4. Experimental dissection of tuberculosis protective immunity: a human perspective.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Gioele CapoferriDivision of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland. gioele.capoferri@usb.ch.
Giovanni GhielmettiSection of Veterinary Bacteriology, Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Bettina GlatzDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Markus R MutkeDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Alexandar TzankovInstitute of Pathology and Medical Genetics, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Roger StephanSection of Veterinary Bacteriology, Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Peter M KellerDivision of Clinical Bacteriology and Mycology, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Niklaus D LabhardtDivision of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) are known to increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB) reactivation, though cases involving Mycobacterium bovis are rarely reported. CASE PRESENTATION/

resultsWe describe a case of disseminated TB with M. bovis in a 78-year-old woman with a negative Interferon-Gamma-Release Assay (IGRA), taking adalimumab due to rheumatoid polyarthritis, which resulted in a fatal outcome. The atypical clinical and histopathological features were initially interpreted as sarcoidosis. The case occurred in Switzerland, an officially bovine tuberculosis-free country. The whole genome sequence of the patient's cultured M. bovis isolate was identified as belonging to the animal lineage La1.2, the main genotype in continental Europe, but showed significant genetic distance from previously sequenced Swiss cattle strains. In a literature review, four cases of bovine tuberculosis reactivation under TNFi treatment were identified, with pulmonal, oral and intestinal manifestations. Similar to our patient, two cases presented a negative IGRA before TNFi initiation, which later converted to positive upon symptomatic presentation of M. bovis infection.

conclusionThis case highlights the diagnostic challenges of TB in immunosuppressed patients, the limited sensitivity of IGRA, and the importance of considering TB reactivation even in regions declared free of bovine tuberculosis. Detailed patient histories, including potential exposure to unpasteurized dairy products, are essential for guiding preventive TB treatment before TNFi initiation.

Indexed as

AdalimumabMycobacterium bovisTuberculosis, BovineAgedArthritis, RheumatoidFatal OutcomeFemaleHumansSwitzerlandAdalimumabAdalimumabBovine tuberculosis reactivationMycobacterium bovisNon-necrotizing granulomasTumour necrosis factor inhibitors

Identifiers

PMID39143434
PMCPMC11825525

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.