Exploring the ACE Index in Acute Ulcerative Colitis

Rebecca K Grant, Gareth-Rhys Jones, Nikolas Plevris, Ruairi W Lynch, Philip W Jenkinson, Charlie W Lees, Thomas A Manship, Fiona A M Jagger, William M Brindle, Mrithula Shivakumar, Jack Satsangi, Ian D R Arnott

Background: Intravenous (IV) steroids remain the first-line treatment for patients with acute ulcerative colitis (UC). However, 30% of patients do not respond to steroids, requiring second-line therapy and/or surgery. There are no existing indices that allow physicians to predict steroid nonresponse at admission. We aimed to determine if admission biochemical and endoscopic values could predict response to IV steroids.

Methods: All admissions for acute UC (ICD-10 K51) between November 1, 2011, and October 31, 2016 were identified. Case note review confirmed diagnosis; clinical, endoscopic, and laboratory data were collected. Steroid response was defined as discharge home with no further therapy for active UC. Nonresponse was defined as requirement for second-line therapy or surgery. Univariate and binary logistic regression analyses were employed to identify factors associated with steroid nonresponse.

Results: Two hundred and thirty-five acute UC admissions were identified, comprising both acute severe and acute nonsevere UC; 155 of the 235 patients (66.0%) …

A Specific Mutation in Muc2 Determines Early Dysbiosis in Colitis-Prone Winnie Mice

Marina Liso, Stefania De Santis, Giulio Verna, Manuela Dicarlo, Maria Calasso, Angelo Santino, Isabella Gigante, Rajaraman Eri, Sathuwarman Raveenthiraraj, Anastasia Sobolewski, Valeria Palmitessa, Antonio Lippolis, Mauro Mastronardi, Raffaele Armentano, Grazia Serino, Maria De Angelis, Marcello Chieppa

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a multifactorial disorder characterized by chronic inflammation and altered gut barrier function. Dysbiosis, a condition defined by dysregulation of the gut microbiome, has been reported in patients with IBD and in experimental models of colitis. Although several factors have been implicated in directly affecting gut microbial composition, the genetic determinants impacting intestinal dysbiosis in IBD remain relatively unknown.

Methods: We compared the microbiome of normal, uninflamed wild-type (WT) mice with that of a murine model of UC (ie, Winnie strain). Winnie mice …

Proactive Vs Reactive Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Infliximab in Crohn’s

Diana M Negoescu, Eva A Enns, PhD, Brooke Swanhorst, Bonnie Baumgartner, James P Campbell, Mark T Osterman, MD, Konstantinos Papamichael, PhD, Adam S Cheifetz, MD, Byron P Vaughn, MD

Background: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is increasingly performed for Infliximab (IFX) in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Reactive TDM is a cost-effective strategy to empiric IFX dose escalation. The cost-effectiveness of proactive TDM is unknown. The aim of this study is to assess the cost-effectiveness of proactive vs reactive TDM in a simulated population of CD patients on IFX.

Methods: We developed a stochastic simulation model of CD patients on IFX and evaluated the expected health costs and outcomes of a proactive TDM strategy compared with a reactive strategy. The proactive strategy measured IFX concentration and antibody status every 6 months, or at the time of a flare, and dosed IFX to a therapeutic window. The reactive strategy only did so at the time of a flare.

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Real-world Pattern of Biologic Use in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Treatment Persistence, Switching, and Importance of Concurrent Immunosuppressive Therapy

Chao Chen, PhD, Abraham G Hartzema, PhD, Hong Xiao, PhD, Yu-Jung Wei, PhD, Naueen Chaudhry, MD, Ofor Ewelukwa, MD, Sarah C Glover, DO, Ellen M Zimmermann, MD

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:
Medication persistence, defined as the time from drug initiation to discontinuation of therapy, has been suggested as a proxy for real-world therapeutic benefit and safety. This study seeks to compare the persistence of biologic drugs among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

METHODS:
Patients with newly diagnosed IBD were included in a retrospective study using Truven MarketScan database. Treatment persistence and switching was compared among biologic medications including infliximab, adalimumab, certolizumab, golimumab, and vedolizumab. Predictors for discontinuation and switching were evaluated using time-dependent proportional hazard regression.

RESULTS:
In total, 5612 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and 3533 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) were included in this analysis. Less than half of the patients continued using their initial biologic treatment after 1 year (48.48% in CD cohort; 44.78% …

Improving the Quality of Inpatient Ulcerative Colitis Management: Promoting Evidence-Based Practice and Reducing Care Variation With an Inpatient Protocol

Sara M Lewin, MD, Ryan A McConnell, MD, Roshan Patel, MD, Suzanne R Sharpton, MD, MAS, Fernando Velayos, MD, MPH, Uma Mahadevan, MD

BACKGROUND:
Hospitalization for ulcerative colitis is a high-risk period associated with increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection, thromboembolism, and opiate use. The study aim was to develop and implement a quality-improvement intervention for inpatient ulcerative colitis management that standardizes gastroenterology consultant recommendations and improves delivery of evidence-based care.

METHODS:
All adult patients hospitalized for ulcerative colitis between July 1, 2014, and December 31, 2017, who received intravenous corticosteroids were included. On July 1, 2016, the UCSF Inpatient Ulcerative Colitis Protocol was implemented, featuring standardized core recommendations and a daily checklist for gastroenterology consultant notes, a bundled IBD electronic order set, and an opiate awareness campaign. The composite primary outcome was adherence to all 3 evidence-based care metrics: C. difficile testing performed, pharmacologic venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis ordered, and opiates avoided.

RESULTS:
Ninety-three ulcerative colitis hospitalizations occurred, including 36 preintervention and 57 …

Impact of Obesity on Short- and Intermediate-Term Outcomes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Pooled Analysis of Placebo Arms of Infliximab Clinical Trials.

Siddharth Singh, MD, MS James Proudfoot, MS Ronghui Xu, PhDWilliam J Sandborn, MD

Background:

To assess whether obesity may affect natural history of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), we conducted an individual participant data (IPD) pooled analysis of placebo arms, using data from clinical trials of infliximab in IBD and using the Yale Open Data Access (YODA) Project.

Methods:

We obtained IPD from 4 placebo-controlled trials of infliximab in adults with IBD (ACCENT-I and ACCENT-II; ACT-1 and ACT-2). Patients were categorized into quartiles based on body mass index (BMI) or weight at time of trial entry. Primary outcome was clinical remission (Crohn’s disease activity index [CDAI]<150, Mayo Clinic Score <3); secondary outcomes were clinical response and mucosal healing. Using multivariable logistic regression analysis, we compared association between quartiles of BMI (or weight) and achieving remission, after adjusting for sex, smoking, disease activity, and concomitant prednisone or immunomodulators.

Results:

We included 575 placebo-treated patients (mean age 38 years, 51.6% males, 16% obese). Obesity was not associated with odds of achieving clinical …

Higher Postinduction Infliximab Serum Trough Levels Are Associated With Healing of Fistulizing Perianal Crohn’s Disease in Children.

Wael El-Matary, MD, MSc Thomas D Walters, MD Hien Q Huynh, MDJennifer deBruyn, MD David R Mack, MD Kevan Jacobson, MD Mary E Sherlock, MDPeter Church, MD Eytan Wine, MD, PhD Matthew W Carroll, MD, Eric I Benchimol, MD, PhD Sally Lawrence, MD Anne M Griffiths, MD

Background:

There is some evidence in adults that higher serum infliximab (IFX) levels are needed to adequately treat fistulizing perianal Crohn's disease (CD). However, data in children are lacking. We aimed to determine postinduction serum trough IFX levels that are associated with healing of fistulizing perianal CD (PCD) at week 24.

Methods:

In a multicenter inception cohort study, consecutive children younger than age 17 years with fistulizing perianal CD treated with IFX between April 2014 and June 2017 who had serum trough IFX titers measured before the fourth infusion were included. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was calculated to determine the best cutoff to predict fistula …

Iron Sequestration in Microbiota Biofilms As A Novel Strategy for Treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Jean-Paul Motta, PhD Thibault Allain, PhD Luke E Green-Harrison, BScRyan A Groves, MSc Troy Feener, MSc Hena Ramay, PhD Paul L Beck, MD/PhDIan A Lewis, PhD John L Wallace, PhD Andre G Buret, PhD

ABSTRACT:

Significant alterations of intestinal microbiota and anemia are hallmarks of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It is widely accepted that iron is a key nutrient for pathogenic bacteria, but little is known about its impact on microbiota associated with IBD. We used a model device to grow human mucosa-associated microbiota in its physiological anaerobic biofilm phenotype. Compared to microbiota from healthy donors, microbiota from IBD patients generate biofilms ex vivo that were larger in size and cell numbers, contained higher intracellular iron concentrations, and exhibited heightened virulence in a model of human intestinal epithelia in vitro and in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We also describe an unexpected iron-scavenging property for an experimental hydrogen sulfide-releasing derivative of mesalamine. The findings demonstrate that this new drug reduces the virulence of IBD microbiota biofilms through …

Incidence and Predictors of Success of Adalimumab Dose Escalation and De-escalation in Ulcerative Colitis: a Real-World Belgian Cohort Study.

Saartje Van de Vondel, MD, Filip Baert, MD, PhD, Christine Reenaers, MD, PhD, Stijn Vanden Branden, MD, Leila Amininejad, MD, Pieter Dewint, MD, PhD, Wouter Van Moerkercke, MD, Jean-François Rahier, MD, PhD, Pieter Hindryckx, MD, PhD, Peter Bossuyt, MD, Marc Ferrante, MD, PhD, and Belgian IBD Research and Development (BIRD)

BACKGROUND:

Adalimumab (ADM) has been shown efficacious in ulcerative colitis (UC). In randomized controlled trials, dose escalation from 40 mg ADM every other week to 40 mg every week was required in 20%–25% of patients within 1 year. Real-life data suggest higher escalation rates. Attempts for dose de-escalation have not been studied yet. We assessed the need for, outcome of, and predictors of dose escalation and de-escalation in a large retrospective cohort of UC patients treated with ADM.

METHODS:

We included 231 consecutive patients from 10 Belgian centers initiating ADM treatment for active UC before September 1, 2015 (follow-up ≥1 year in each patient). We performed detailed chart review to identify variables associated with short-term clinical benefit (based on physician global assessment and absence of rectal bleeding at week 10), success …

Reliability of Measuring Ileo-Colonic Disease Activity in Crohn's Disease by Magnetic Resonance Enterography.

Vipul Jairath, MD, PhD, Ingrid Ordas, MD, PhD, Guangyong Zou, PhD, Julian Panes, MD, Jaap Stoker, MD, PhD, Stuart A Taylor, MD, Cynthia Santillan, MD, Karin Horsthuis, MD, Mark A Samaan, MD, Lisa M Shackelton, PhD, Larry W Stitt, MSc, Pieter Hindryckx, MD, PhD, Reena Khanna, MD, William J Sandborn, MD ,Geert D'Haens, MD, PhD, Brian G Feagan, MD, Barrett G Levesque, MD, and Jordi Rimola, MD, PhD

BACKGROUND:

Magnetic resonance enterography is increasingly utilized for assessment of luminal Crohn's disease activity. The Magnetic Resonance Index of Activity and the London Index are the most commonly used outcome measures in clinical trials. We assessed the reliability of these indices and several additional items.

METHODS:

A consensus process clarified scoring conventions and identified additional items based on face validity. Four experienced radiologists evaluated 50 images in triplicate, in random order, at least 1 month apart, using a central image management system. Intra- and interrater reliability were assessed by calculating and comparing intraclass correlation coefficients.

RESULTS:

Intrarater intraclass correlation coefficients (95% confidence intervals) for the Magnetic Resonance Index of Activity, London, and London "extended" indices and a visual analogue …