Tofacitinib‐induced subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Tofacitinib is a Janus kinase inhibitor that is employed in the treatment of several diseases, especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to prevent joint damage and reduce disease activity. Drug-induced lupus erythematosus (DILE) is a disorder that is linked to some drugs and is characterised by regression of clinical signs and symptoms after discontinuation of the drug. A 56-year-old woman who was diagnosed with RA for 20 years was admitted to the rheumatology department. Tofacitinib tablet 10 mg/d was added to the patient’s medical treatment. Three months after this medical treatment, the patient was diagnosed with drug-induced subacute cutaneous lupus erythematous (DISCLE) with erythematous skin lesions and autoantibody positivity. The skin rash, with increased autoantibodies, improved 6 months after discontinuation of tofacitinib. To the best of our knowledge, tofacitinib-induced lupus erythematous has not been previously reported. In this case, DILE developed after tofacitinib treatment in a patient who was followed up with RA.

Keywords:

• Drug-induced lupus erythematosus (DILE)
• rheumatoid arthritis
• side effect
• systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
• tofacitinib

Patient consent

The patient signed an informed consent to publish this report.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Conflict of interest

None.