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Decreased trough levels of infliximab (TLI) and antibodies to infliximab (ATI) are associated with loss of response (LOR) in Crohn's disease. Two prospective studies were conducted to determine whether TLI or ATI better correlates with LOR (Study 1), and whether TLI could become a predictor of mucosal healing (MH) (Study 2).
Study 1 was conducted in 108 patients, including those with LOR and remission to compare ATI and TLI in discriminating the 2 conditions based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. Study 2 involved 35 patients who were evaluated endoscopically.
In Study 1, there were no differences between the 2 assays in ROC curve analyses; the TLI cutoff value for LOR was 2.6 µg/mL (sensitivity, 70.9%; specificity, 79.2%), and the ATI cutoff value was 4.9 µg/mL (sensitivity, 65.5%; specificity, 67.9%). The AUROC (area under the ROC curve) of TLI was greater than that of ATI. AUROC was useful for discriminating between the 2 conditions. In Study 2, the TLI was significantly higher in the colonic MH group than in the non-MH group (2.7 µg/mL vs. 0.5 µg/mL,
TLI is better than ATI for clinically diagnosing LOR, and a correlation was observed between TLI and colonic MH.
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Infliximab has proven to be effective in the treatment of perianal fistulas in Crohn's disease (CD) but the efficacy of adalimumab is still unclear. The aim of this study is to assess the clinical efficacy of adalimumab and compare the results with those for infliximab.
Forty-seven CD patients treated for perianal fistulas with infliximab from September 2005 to December 2010 (n=31), or with adalimumab from November 2010 to May 2012 (n=16), were enrolled in this retrospective study. The following patient characteristics were analyzed; intestinal lesion site, fistula classification, seton placement, index of inflammatory bowel disease, C-reactive protein level, follow-up period, and the cumulative rate of nonrecurrence or aggravation of fistula.
There were no significant differences in the intestinal lesion site, fistula classification, inflammatory bowel disease index, C-reactive protein level, and the frequency of injection between the infliximab group and the adalimumab group. The cumulative rate of nonrecurrence or aggravation of fistula was 62.5% in the adalimumab group and 83.9% in the infliximab group at 24 months after treatment (
There was no significant difference in the clinical efficacy of adalimumab and infliximab in the treatment of perianal fistulas in CD. However, fistula classification may be an important risk factor for recurrence or aggravation. The preliminary findings in this study show that further research is warranted.
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Anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy for active ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with increased risks of tuberculosis (TB) infection. We analyzed the incidence and clinical features of Korean patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who developed active TB during anti-TNF therapy.
Ten cases of active TB developed in patients treated with infliximab (n=592) or adalimumab (n=229) for UC (n=160) or CD (n=661) were reviewed. We analyzed demographics, interval between start of anti-TNF therapy and active TB development, tests for latent TB infection (LTBI), concomitant medications, and the details of diagnosis and treatments for TB.
The incidence of active TB was 1.2% (10/821): 1.5% (9/592) and 0.4% (1/229) in patients receiving infliximab and adalimumab, respectively. The median time to the development of active TB after initiation of anti-TNF therapy was three months (range: 2–36). Three patients had past histories of treatment for TB. Positive findings in a TB skin test (TST) and/or interferon gamma releasing assay (IGRA) were observed in three patients, and two of them received anti-TB prophylaxis. Two patients were negative by both TST and IGRA. The most common site of active TB was the lungs, and the active TB was cured in all patients.
Active TB can develop during anti-TNF therapy in IBD patients without LTBI, and even in those with histories of TB treatment or LTBI prophylaxis. Physicians should be aware of the potential for TB development during anti-TNF therapy, especially in countries with a high prevalence of TB.
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Several recent studies have reported that the early use of infliximab (IFX) improves the prognosis of Crohn's disease (CD). However, no data are available from Asian populations, as the forementioned studies have all been conducted in Western countries. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of early use of IFX on the prognosis of Korean patients with CD.
Patients with a diagnosis of CD established between July 1987 and January 2012 were investigated in 12 university hospitals in Korea. Because insurance coverage for IFX treatment began in August 2005, patients were assigned to either of 2 groups based on diagnosis date. The first group included patients diagnosed from July 1987 to December 2005, and the second from January 2006 to January 2012. We compared the cumulative probabilities of operation and reoperation between the two groups using the Kaplan-Meier method and a log-rank test.
Of the 721 patients investigated, 443 (61.4%) comprized the second group. Although the cumulative probabilities of immunosuppressant (
The early use of IFX did not reduce CD-related surgery requirements in Korean patients with CD. These study results suggest that the early use of IFX may have little impact on the clinical outcome of CD in Korean patients in the setting of a conventional step-up algorithm.
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Infliximab was introduced recently as a rescue therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC) patients refractory to conventional treatments such as therapy with 5-amiono salicylic acids (5-ASA), immune modulators, and corticosteroids. However, there is insufficient data about its efficacy and safety in Korea.
From 7 tertiary referral hospitals, 33 patients who were treated with infliximab for moderate to severe (Mayo score 6-12) UC refractory to conventional treatment were recruited to this study. Clinical remission was defined as a total Mayo score of 2 or lower and every subscore less than 2. Partial response was defined as a decrease of Mayo score at least 3 points from baseline.
Twenty-three patients (69.7%) showed clinical remission and 29 patients (87.8%) showed partial response in the observation period. When the remission and non-remission groups were compared in univariate analysis, only a higher total Mayo score at base line (11.0±0.9 vs. 9.9±1.5;
If there is no choice except surgery for UC patients refractory to conventional treatment, infliximab is an effective and relatively safe treatment option for these patients in Korea.
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Nearly 80% of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) require surgical treatment for complications or failure of medical management. We managed a 31-year-old man with CD who presented with a post-operative fistula. The patient had undergone surgery due to multiple strictures and a fistula. However, a new fistula developed that connected to the intraperitoneal abscess. Intravenous antibiotics were started and multiple percutaneous drainage tubes were inserted to treat the abdominal abscess. However, the amount of drainage was consistently high, even one month after the operation. To treat the postoperative fistula, 5 mg/kg of infliximab was started, and the amount of drainage decreased dramatically to less than 10 cc a day. Some studies have reported that infliximab decreases the recurrence of CD after surgery. The effect of infliximab on post-operative fistulas in patients with CD has not been sufficiently studied. Our results indicated that the use of infliximab to treat post-operative fistula should be explored further in future clinical studies.
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Crohn's disease (CD) may involve any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the anus. Approximately >90% of cases occur in the small bowel and colon. Upper gastrointestinal involvement, especially duodenal manifestation, is relatively rare. Therefore, adequate medical treatment for duodenal CD has not yet been established. We report a case of CD with duodenal involvement. A 46-year-old man with Crohn's ileocolitis presented to our hospital with right upper quadrant pain. An endoscopy showed a deep excavated ulcer with deformity at the duodenal bulb, and he was initially treated with azathioprine (1 mg/kg), Pentasa (3.0 g/day), and a proton pump inhibitor for 1 year. However, the deep ulcer did not heal. Therefore, infliximab infusion therapy was initiated, and the duodenal lesion completely resolved on follow-up esophagogastroduodenoscopy. We report a case of duodenal CD that completely resolved following infliximab infusion, with a review of the literature.
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Patients with intractable inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are increasingly being treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents and are at increased risk of developing tuberculosis (TB). Therefore, diagnosis and treatment of latent TB infection (LTBI) is recommended in patients due to the initiation of anti-TNF therapy. Traditionally, LTBI has been diagnosed on the basis of clinical factors and a tuberculin skin test. Recently, interferon-gamma releasing assays (IGRAs) that can detect TB infection have become available. Considering the high-risk of developing TB in patients on anti-TNF therapy, the use of both a tuberculin skin test and an IGRA should be considered to detect and treat LTBI in patients with IBD due to the initiation of anti-TNF therapy. The traditional LTBI treatment regimen has consisted of isoniazid monotherapy for 9 months. However, shorter regimens such as 4 months of rifampicin or 3 months of isoniazid/rifampicin have been used increasingly to improve treatment completion rates. In this review, the incidence of TB and the prevalence of LTBI in patients with IBD will be briefly described, as well as methods for diagnosing latent and active TB before anti-TNF therapy, current LTBI treatment regimens, recommendations for managing TB that develops during anti-TNF therapy, the necessity of regular monitoring to detect new TB infection, and the re-initiation of anti-TNF therapy in patients who develop TB.
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