Intestinal Research最新文献

Background/aims: Pouchitis is a common complication in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) following colectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). Recent studies have identified a novel autoantibody against integrin αvβ6 in patients with UC, correlated with disease activity. This study aimed to assess the association between serum anti-integrin αvβ6 antibody levels and pouch inflammation in patients with postoperative UC.

Methods: Serum anti-integrin αvβ6 antibodies were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in patients after IPAA, patients with UC, and controls.

Results: We examined sera from 71 subjects, including 28 patients who underwent IPAA, 23 controls, and 20 patients with mild and moderate-to-severe UC. Post-IPAA, patients with UC had higher median anti-integrin αvβ6 levels than that of controls (P<0.001) but lower than that of patients with active UC (P=0.001). Patients with pouchitis had higher antibody levels than those without (P=0.047). The receiver operating characteristics curve for anti-integrin αvβ6 showed an area under the curve of 0.724. The pouchitis activity index endoscopic sub-score was correlated with antibody levels (r= 0.48, P=0.011).

Conclusions: Serum anti-integrin αvβ6 antibody levels remain elevated in patients with UC even after total colectomy, and were significantly higher in patients with pouchitis than in those without. This antibody could be a novel and useful biomarker for the diagnosis of pouchitis and assessment of disease activity.

Background/aims: Etrasimod is an oral, once-daily, selective sphingosine 1-phosphate1,4,5 receptor modulator for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC). However, its efficacy, safety, and the appropriate dosage have not been extensively investigated in the Japanese population.

Methods: This phase 2, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-ranging, 12-week trial was carried out among Japanese patients with moderately to severely active UC. Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive etrasimod 1 mg once daily (QD), etrasimod 2 mg QD, or placebo. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving clinical remission at week 12. Secondary efficacy endpoints and treatmentemergent adverse events (TEAEs) were also investigated. Efficacy endpoints were presented as proportions of patients achieving each outcome.

Results: Overall, 17, 19, and 18 patients received etrasimod 1 mg QD, etrasimod 2 mg QD, and placebo, respectively. One patient receiving etrasimod 1 mg (6.7%), 5 patients receiving etrasimod 2 mg (26.3%), and no patients receiving placebo (0%) achieved clinical remission. More patients receiving etrasimod versus placebo achieved secondary endpoints, except endoscopic normalization, at week 12. TEAEs were experienced by 9 patients receiving etrasimod 1 mg (52.9%), 13 patients receiving etrasimod 2 mg (68.4%), and 10 patients receiving placebo (55.6%). None of the TEAEs were serious and none experienced by patients receiving etrasimod led to treatment discontinuation.

Conclusions: Overall, etrasimod 2 mg QD for up to 12 weeks appeared efficacious and safe in these Japanese patients with moderately to severely active UC. All TEAEs were mild to moderate in severity. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05061446).

Background/aims: Accurate assessment of disease activity is crucial for effective management and treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). This study evaluated the correlation between clinical, endoscopic, and histologic measures of disease activity in UC.

Methods: Clinical, biochemical, endoscopic, and histologic disease activity was studied in 347 patients with UC. Agreements among various histologic classification systems, namely the Geboes Score (GS), Continuous GS, Nancy Index (NI), and Robarts Histopathology Index (RHI), were analyzed. The predictive accuracy of fecal calprotectin (FC) for endoscopic and histologic remission was assessed.

Results: We demonstrate a fair to moderate correlation between clinical, endoscopic, and histologic measures of disease activity in UC. There was a robust concordance among GS, Continuous GS, NI, and RHI in distinguishing between patients in histologic remission or activity. The NI detected 75% of patients who met the remission criteria according to the RHI, whereas the RHI identified all patients in remission as defined by the NI. FC levels below 150 μg/g had >70% accuracy in predicting endoscopic remission. FC levels below 150 μg/g showed ≥80% accuracy, and FC levels below 100 μg/g demonstrated ≥ 85% accuracy in predicting histologic remission, regardless of the scoring index applied. Elevated FC levels were associated with both acute and chronic inflammatory infiltrates in biopsy samples.

Conclusions: FC is a reliable predictor of histologic remission, with higher accuracy at lower thresholds. The GS, Continuous GS, NI, and RHI demonstrate comparable performance. FC could help stratify patients' need for colonoscopy for the assessment of endoscopic and histologic remission.

Background/aims: In today's age, celiac disease (CD) is no longer solely characterized by chronic diarrhea in a malnourished child. Obesity is gradually being acknowledged as part of CD's clinical course. Both conditions have been linked to alterations of gut microbiome. Given the difficulty of strict gluten-free diet adherence, there is a need for less restrictive adjunctive therapies. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of obesity in patients diagnosed with CD with the goal of developing new therapeutic approaches.

Methods: Baseline data from the National Institute of Health's All of Us Research Program, was used to evaluate the relationship between CD and obesity. A retrospective cohort study was conducted where groups of individuals with CD and without CD were matched by age range and health surveys. Statistical analysis with odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported.

Results: The prevalence of obesity was 32.6% in the CD group compared to 18.4% in the control group (OR, 2.111; 95% CI, 1.914-2.328; P< 0.0001). Women accounted for a greater population of patients with CD and obesity. The largest percentage of patients with CD and obesity were older than 65 years. The highest percentage of individuals in both the experimental and control groups were white, followed by African Americans.

Conclusions: Our data shows a significant association between CD and increased prevalence of obesity. These results warrant further investigation into microbial changes and dietary exposures that affect the pathogenesis of both diseases.

Background/aims: Bowel urgency is an important symptom for quality of life determination in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Few clinical studies have focused on bowel urgency as an efficacy endpoint. Budesonide foam enema has shown efficacy for clinical and endoscopic improvement in mild-to-moderate UC. We evaluated the improvement of clinical symptoms (bowel urgency), safety, and treatment impact of twice-daily budesonide foam enema on the quality of life in patients with UC.

Methods: This open-label, multicenter, prospective observational study comprised a 4-week observation period assessing the effectiveness and safety of twice-daily budesonide foam enema. Mild-to-moderate UC patients who had bowel urgency were included. Patients collected data daily in an electronic patient-reported outcome system or logbooks. The primary endpoint was the rate of resolution of bowel urgency at the end of the 4-week observation period. The rate of bowel incontinence was also assessed.

Results: Sixty-one patients were enrolled. Of patients with a final evaluation, the rate of resolution of bowel urgency was 58.5% (31/53; 95% confidence interval, 44.1%-71.9%). Bowel urgency decreased over time, with a significant difference observed on day 7 versus day 0. Bowel incontinence showed a decreasing trend from day 5, with a significant difference confirmed on day 12 versus day 0. The clinical remission rate was 64.4% (38/59; 95% confidence interval, 50.9%-76.4%). One adverse event not related to budesonide rectal foam occurred.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that bowel urgency can be improved early with twice-daily budesonide foam enema. No new safety signals were observed.

Background/aims: We investigated the incidences of overall and site-specific malignancies and chemopreventive effects of statin, metformin, and aspirin in patients with ulcerative colitis.

Methods: We collected data using the Health Insurance Review and Assessment claims database from January 2007 to April 2020.

Results: The overall malignancy risk among the 35,189 ulcerative colitis patients was similar to that of the general population (standardized incidence ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.88-1.00). In male patients, standardized incidence ratios were high for thyroid cancer and low for stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, and lung cancer. Concurrently, standard incidence ratios were high for liver cancer and central nervous system cancer in female patients. While 122 cases of colorectal cancer occurred in the study patients, the standardized incidence ratio was 0.83 (95% confidence interval, 0.69-0.99). Treatment for ulcerative colitis was not associated with an increased adjusted hazard ratio, while comorbidities increased it for all malignancies. Treatment for ulcerative colitis was associated with an increased adjusted hazard ratio, while comorbidities did not increase it for colorectal cancer. After adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, and ulcerative colitis treatment, statins showed a dose-dependent chemopreventive effect for all malignancies (P=0.002), while metformin and aspirin did not show any.

Conclusions: In ulcerative colitis patients, standardized incidence ratios for all malignancies and colorectal cancer did not increase. Adjusted hazard ratios for all malignancies increased with comorbidities and those for colorectal cancer with ulcerative colitis treatment. Statins have a dose-dependent chemopreventive effect for all malignancies.

Background/aims: Diagnosis of cytomegalovirus (CMV) ileocolitis traditionally requires colonoscopy with tissue biopsy. Due to potential complications in high-risk patients, there is growing interest in serum and stool tests for diagnosing this condition. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of these noninvasive tests compared to traditional gold standards.

Methods: Two independent reviewers performed a comprehensive search on MEDLINE and Embase from inception up to October 1, 2023. Prospective and retrospective studies evaluating the performance of serum CMV polymerase chain reaction (PCR), serum CMV antigen (Ag), and stool CMV PCR in diagnosing CMV ileocolitis were included. Tissue histopathology or tissue CMV PCR served as reference standards. Diagnostic performances of each serum and stool test were calculated based on a meta-analysis using random-effects model.

Results: A total of 30 studies, comprising 23 studies of serum CMV PCR, 9 of serum CMV Ag, and 7 of stool CMV PCR, were included. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and area under summary receiver operating characteristic curves were 62% (95% confidence interval [CI], 51%-72%), 90% (95% CI, 79%-96%), and 0.81 for serum CMV PCR, 38% (95% CI, 26%-51%), 94% (95% CI, 70%-99%), and 0.56 for serum CMV Ag, and 53% (95% CI, 35%-70%), 91% (95% CI, 84%-95%), and 0.84 for stool CMV PCR.

Conclusions: Serum and stool tests cannot replace colonoscopy for diagnosing CMV ileocolitis due to their low sensitivities but may be useful when colonoscopy is not feasible. Positive results can aid diagnosis, given their high specificities. Serum and/or stool CMV PCR are preferred over CMV Ag.