Combining TNF inhibition with methotrexate treatment is an effective therapeutic approach for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and reduces the likelihood of the patient developing ‘resistance’ to the TNF inhibitor. But how does methotrexate suppress the production of anti-drug antibodies and how can we tell which patients will develop resistance?
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$189.00 per year
only $15.75 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References
Singh, J. A. et al. 2015 American College of Rheumatology guideline for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 68, 1–26 (2016).
Bitoun, S. et al. Methotrexate and BAFF interaction prevents immunization against TNF inhibitors. Ann. Rheum. Dis. https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-213403 (2018).
Brown, P. M., Pratt, A. G. & Isaacs, J. D. Mechanism of action of methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis, and the search for biomarkers. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 12, 731–742 (2016).
Cronstein, B. N. & Sitkovsky, M. Adenosine and adenosine receptors in the pathogenesis and treatment of rheumatic diseases. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 13, 41–51 (2017).
Cronstein, B. N., Eberle, M. A., Gruber, H. E. & Levin, R. I. Methotrexate inhibits neutrophil function by stimulating adenosine release from connective tissue cells. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 88, 2441–2445 (1991).
Cronstein, B. N., Naime, D. & Ostad, E. The antiinflammatory mechanism of methotrexate: increased adenosine release at inflamed sites diminishes leukocyte accumulation in an in vivo model of inflammation. J. Clin. Invest. 92, 2675–2682 (1993).
Peres, R. S. et al. Low expression of CD39 on regulatory T cells as a biomarker for resistance to methotrexate therapy in rheumatoid arthritis. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 2509–2514 (2015).
Maloney, J. P. et al. The ENTPD1 promoter polymorphism -860 A > G (rs3814159) is associated with increased gene transcription, protein expression, CD39/NTPDase1 enzymatic activity, and thromboembolism risk. FASEB J. 31, 2771–2784 (2017).
Khoa, N. D. et al. Inflammatory cytokines regulate function and expression of adenosine A2A receptors in human monocytic THP-1 cells. J. Immunol. 167, 4026–4032 (2001).
Khoa, N. D., Postow, M., Danielsson, J. & Cronstein, B. N. Tumor necrosis factor-α prevents desensitization of Gαs-coupled receptors by regulating GRK2 association with the plasma membrane. Mol. Pharmacol. 69, 1311–1319 (2006).
Acknowledgements
The work of B.N.C. was supported by grants from the Arthritis Foundation, the NYU School of Medicine Applied Research Support Fund and the National Institutes of Health (R01 AR056672 and R01 AR068593) and by the NYU-HHC Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UL1 TR000038-05, UL1 TR000038-05S1).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
B.C. received a grant from AstraZeneca to carry out an open label trial of ticagrelor in addition to methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have an inadequate response to methotrexate therapy.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cronstein, B.N. Methotrexate BAFFles anti-drug antibodies. Nat Rev Rheumatol 14, 505–506 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-018-0064-y
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-018-0064-y