Patients with inflammatory bowel disease taking JAK inhibitors may be at increased risk for herpes zoster infection, according to the results of a meta-analysis.

Hepatogastroenterology researchers, from Nancy University Hospital in France and international colleagues, have investigated the safety profile of four JAK inhibitors — tofacitinib, upadacitinib, filgotinib and baricitinib — in patients with a range of immune-mediated diseases.

They included 82 studies, covering 66,000 patients in their analysis, examining incidence of serious infections, malignancy and major cardiovascular events among patients taking the agents who had IBD, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis or ankylosing spondylitis.

The only statistically significant finding was a 60% increased risk of herpes zoster, a finding from an analysis of 44 studies.