An estimated 30-50%, and possible 60%, of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) turn to complementary and alternative medicines (CAM’s) to ease symptoms and exert more control over their treatment. Very few studies have evaluated CAM’s, and many of the studies were small, poorly designed, and uncontrolled. Predictors of CAM use include dissatisfaction with conventional therapies,
Almost 1 in 5 patients with symptomatic inflammatory bowel disease also had non-Clostridium difficile enteric infection, according to a study published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology. Although the infections had an effect on treatment, there was no long-term effect. See the article on MedPage Today here.
An analysis of data from the VICTORY consortium through the University of California at San Diego, as published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, found vedolizumab effective in ulcerative colitis. Cumulative rates of endoscopic remission and clinical remission were the main effectiveness outcomes of the review. Researchers analyzed secondary outcomes measures of cumulative rates of
An analysis of data from the TREAT Registry found that babies born to women who continued to treat their Crohn’s disease with infliximab during pregnancy had outcomes similar to those who did not take the drug. “The majority of both maternal pregnancies and partner outcomes resulted in live births of healthy infants across exposure groups”
Dr. Jonathan Kay of the University of Massachusetts Medical School told the 2018 Interdisciplinary Autoimmune Summit that biosimilar competition in Europe has reduced drug costs, made biosimilars more available and increased market share for some bio-originators. The European Union has approved 41 biosimilar drugs while the FDA has approved nine. Biosimilars in Europe lead to
Research published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics found ulcerative colitis patients with higher BMIs had a greater likelihood of biologic treatment failure. Increases in BMI also were associated with a higher risk of surgery or hospitalization. The reasons might be related to endogenous steroid production, misuse of medical steroids, or underdosing of conventional
Vedolizumab is an anti-α4β7 monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A recent study finds that pretreatment α4β7 expression and α4β7 receptor saturation during maintenance therapy were identified as candidate biomarkers for vedolizumab response. This assay leads to promise that we will be able to identify good candidates for biologic therapies
Reduced mortality was seen in Crohn’s patients with comorbidities who have been treated with anti-TNF’s, but primarily compared to those treated with prolonged steroids. There was a trend to positive outcomes for UC patients, but it did not meet statistical significance. Among 1,879 Crohn’s patients initiating anti-TNF therapy, there was a significantly lower risk of
Neurologic involvement in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is uncommon but probably underreported, and gastroenterologists must be ready to recognize it. For example, peripheral neuropathy is reported to occur in up to 13% of IBD patients. Neurologic complications due to nutritional deficiencies are thought to be even more common. Complications may arise spontaneously from the systemic inflammation
A longitudinal study in the American Journal of Gastroenterology found that elevated peripheral blood eosinophils found in the white-cell differential of blood tests might better predict the severity of inflammatory bowel disease in a subgroup of patients. “These results are very important, as we are always searching for predictors of more severe disease in order
