A 38-year-old male patient with ankylosing spondylitis received subcutaneous injection of adalimumab 40 mg once every 2 weeks. After 21 months of medication, the patient developed fever, fatigue, swelling, and pain in the right neck lymph node and throat. Laboratory tests showed that the tuberculin test was strong positive, mycobacterium tuberculosis γ-interferon release test was 1 911.98 ng/L, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 27 mm/1 h. The biopsy of right neck lymph node showed granulomatous inflammation of the lymph node. The patient was diagnosed with cervical lymph node tuberculosis, which was considered to be related to adalimumab. The drug was stopped and anti-tuberculosis treatments were given. The next day, the patient′s temperature returned to normal. After 5 days, the swelling and pain of cervical lymph nodes and throat, and the fatigue were relieved gradually. After 45 days, the above symptoms in the patient disappeared.

A 38-year-old male patient with ankylosing spondylitis received subcutaneous injection of adalimumab 40 mg once every 2 weeks. After 21 months of medication, the patient developed fever, fatigue, swelling, and pain in the right neck lymph node and throat. Laboratory tests showed that the tuberculin test was strong positive, mycobacterium tuberculosis γ-interferon release test was 1 911.98 ng/L, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 27 mm/1 h. The biopsy of right neck lymph node showed granulomatous inflammation of the lymph node. The patient was diagnosed with cervical lymph node tuberculosis, which was considered to be related to adalimumab. The drug was stopped and anti-tuberculosis treatments were given. The next day, the patient′s temperature returned to normal. After 5 days, the swelling and pain of cervical lymph nodes and throat, and the fatigue were relieved gradually. After 45 days, the above symptoms in the patient disappeared.

Benzene, a recognized hematotoxicant and carcinogen, can damage the human immune system. We studied the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in innate immunity and benzene hematotoxicity in a cross-sectional study of workers exposed to benzene (250 workers and 140 controls). A total of 1,236 tag SNPs in 149 gene regions of six pathways were included in the analysis. Six gene regions were significant for their association with white blood cell (WBC) counts (MBP, VCAM1, ALOX5, MPO, RAC2, and CRP) based on gene-region (P < 0.05) and SNP analyses (FDR < 0.05). VCAM1 rs3176867, ALOX5 rs7099684, and MPO rs2071409 were the three most significant SNPs. They showed similar effects on WBC subtypes, especially granulocytes, lymphocytes, and monocytes. A 3-SNP block in ALOXE3 (rs7215658, rs9892383, and rs3027208) showed a global association (omnibus P = 0.0008) with WBCs even though the three SNPs were not significant individually. Our study suggests that polymorphisms in innate immunity genes may play a role in benzene-induced hematotoxicity; however, independent replication is necessary.
Adult ; Arachidonate 5-Lipoxygenase/genetics/*metabolism ; Benzene/toxicity ; Cell Count ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Genetic Association Studies ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Hematologic Diseases/chemically induced/genetics/*metabolism/pathology ; Humans ; Immunity, Innate/genetics ; Leukocytes/*drug effects/metabolism/pathology ; Male ; Occupational Exposure/adverse effects ; Peroxidase/genetics/*metabolism ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1/genetics/*metabolism