Early use of biologics in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) improves quality of life. However, the effects of the early use of immunomodulators on long-term outcomes remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of immunomodulators in patients with CD.
Between January 2004 and December 2011, 47 biologic-naive CD patients treated with thiopurines alone for remission maintenance were analyzed. The patients were classified into 2 groups depending on the presence or absence of digestive complications. We evaluated the efficacy of and predictive factors for thiopurine use for remission maintenance.
The cumulative relapse rates at 24 and 60 months were 13.7% and 35.4%, respectively. Regarding patient characteristics, there was a significant difference in patient history of surgery between the non-relapse and relapse groups (
Thiopurine use might be beneficial for the long-term maintenance of remission in biologic-naive Crohn's disease patients without digestive complications and a history of surgery.
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The long-term clinical outcomes of patients with bio-naive ulcerative colitis (UC) who maintain remission with thiopurine are unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of maintenance treatment with thiopurine in UC patients.
This was a retrospective observational cohort analysis conducted at a single center. Between December 1998 and August 2013, 59 of 87 patients with bio-naive UC who achieved remission after induction with treatments other than biologics were enrolled. Remission maintenance with thiopurine was defined as no concomitant treatment needed other than 5-aminosalicylate without relapse. We assessed the remission-maintenance rate, mucosal healing rate, colectomy-free rate, and treatment safety in UC patients who received thiopurine as maintenance treatment.
The 84-month cumulative remission-maintenance and colectomy-free survival rates in the UC patients who were receiving maintenance treatment with thiopurine and 5-aminosalicylate were 43.9% and 88.0%, respectively. Of the 38 patients who underwent colonoscopy during thiopurine maintenance treatment, 23 (60.5%) achieved mucosal healing. Of the 59 patients who achieved clinical remission with thiopurine, 6 patients (10.2%) discontinued the thiopurine therapy because of adverse events.
Our study demonstrates the long-term efficacy and safety of thiopurine treatment in patients with bio-naive UC.
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Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis, while myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a heterogeneous group of clonal hematologic disorders characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis. Some studies suggest a relationship between MDS and BD, especially intestinal BD, and trisomy 8 seems to play an important role in both diseases. There are several reports on patients with BD comorbid with MDS involving trisomy 8 that frequently have intestinal lesions refractory to conventional medical therapies. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α is strongly involved in the pathophysiology of several autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and BD. In addition, TNF-α plays an important role in the pathophysiology of MDS by inhibiting normal hematopoiesis and inducing the programmed cell death of normal total bone marrow cells and normal CD34+ cells. Recent clinical reports demonstrate the favorable effect of TNF-α antagonists in patients with refractory intestinal BD and in those with MDS. We present the case of a patient with intestinal BD and MDS involving trisomy 8 who was successfully treated with adalimumab.
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