Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis Triggered by Interferon Beta-1b Therapy of Multiple Sclerosis: Four Case Reports and a Literature Review

Abstract

In this paper, we reported on four cases of severe pulmonary active tuberculosis in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) undergoing interferon beta-1b (IFNβ-1b) therapy. Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in MS may increase the risk of developing active tuberculosis (TB) due to their impact on cellular immunity. Screening for latent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (LTBI) should be performed, not only for the newer DMTs (alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab) but also for IFNβ-1b, alongside better supervision of these patients.

Keywords

• IFNβ-1b
• multiple sclerosis
• latent infection
• <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i>
• active tuberculosis
• comorbidities