Call for contribution to a research project

Which anti-rheumatic drugs taken by future fathers or mothers may affect the offspring?
Certainly some of you may search for an answer to this question.
The spectrum of medications against rheumatic diseases like ankylosing spondylitis has been dramatically increased in recent years. An essential innovation in this respect are drugs (belonging to the "biologics") which inhibit the proinflammatory substance "TNF-alpha" in the human body. TNF-alpha blocking drugs have effectively decreased the disease activity in many patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Besides their positive effect, TNF-alpha blockers are, however, also connected with great uncertainty with respect to the question: How is it if a patient wants to become father or mother during the treatment with one of the new drugs? Which drug taken before or even during pregnancy may have a negative effect on the offspring? Only very little is known about this because new drugs are never tested with pregnant woman. Only tests with pregnant animals are available. They have never indicated a harmful influence onthe offspring, neither when given to female animals nor when given to males. The uncertainty remains however how it is with humans.
To close this gap of knowledge, a research project was initiated in collaboration with ASIF. With the help of a questionnaire we intent to collect information on all pregnancies which ended later than  January 1st 2000 where a patient with ankylosing spondylitis was engaged either as father or as mother,  irrespective of there having been a drug therapy or not – we need to compare pregnancies where a drug has been taken, with pregnancies without any drug therapy.
Please help us that  the important question whether a specific drug has disadvantages for the offspring can be answered in future and that thus patients with ankylosing spondylitis can in future be advised better than presently!
Questionnaire in English language in PDF format
Questionnaire in German language in PDF format
Please send the filled questionnaire as soon as possible to the address mentioned at the end of the questionnaire.

Prof. Dr. med. Monika Østensen
Zentrum für Mütterberatung und Familienplanung bei Rheuma-Erkrankungen
Inselspital Bern, Switzerland

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