Francesca Ferretti 1, Rosanna Cannatelli 1, Maria Camilla Monico 1, Giovanni Maconi 1, Sandro Ardizzone
Tag: thiopurines
Scientific corner
An Update on Current Pharmacotherapeutic Options for the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis
The main goals of Ulcerative Colitis (UC) treatment are to both induce and maintain the clinical and endoscopic remission of disease, reduce the incidence of complications such as dysplasia and colorectal carcinoma and improve quality of life. Although a curative medical treatment for UC has not yet been found, new therapeutic strategies addressing specific pathogenetic mechanisms of disease are emerging. Notwithstanding these novel therapies, non-biological conventional drugs remain a mainstay of treatment. The aim of this review is to summarize current therapeutic strategies used as treatment for ulcerative colitis and to briefly focus on emerging therapeutic strategies, including novel biologic therapies and small molecules. To date, multiple therapeutic approaches can be adopted in UC and the range of available compounds is constantly increasing. In this era, the realization of well-designed comparative clinical trials, as well as the definition of specific therapeutic models, would be strongly suggested in order to achieve personalized management for UC patients. They also presented other non-Pharmacological Therapies for UC including probiotics, cytapheresis and fecal transplantation.
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Therapeutic effect of intensive granulocyte and monocyte adsorption apheresis combined with thiopurines for steroid- and biologics-naive Japanese patients with early-diagnosed Crohn’s disease.
Takumi Fukuchi, Hiroshi Nakase 1, Satoshi Ubukata, Minoru Matsuura, Takuya Yoshino, Takahiko Toyonaga, Keiji Shimazu, Hideaki Koga, Hiroshi Yamashita, Dai Ito, Kiyoshi Ashida, BMC Gastroenterol. 2014 Jul 11;13:124.
Combination therapy with intensive GMAA and thiopurines administration rapidly induced high remission in patients with active early-diagnosed CD without serious adverse effect. Mucosal healing was observed in 50.0% of enrolled patients. This combination therapy might be a rational option for patients with early-diagnosed CD.
Scientific corner
Granulocyte, macrophage, monocyte apheresis for refractory ulcerative proctitis
Purushothaman Premchand 1, Ken Takeuchi, Ingvar Bjarnason Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2004 Sep;16(9):943-5. doi: 10.1097/00042737-200409000-00023.
Refractory ulcerative colitis that fails conventional intense medical treatment often leads to colectomy. Although ciclosporin and infliximab may avert colectomy in certain cases, these treatments come with substantial toxicity and may only act as a bridge to avert emergency surgery. Granulocyte monocyte/macrophage adsorption apheresis is a new treatment and has shown efficacy for refractory colitis in up to 80% of cases in a Japanese study and is apparently only associated with negligible side effects. We report a case of severe refractory proctitis destined for colectomy effectively treated with granulocyte monocyte/macrophage adsorption apheresis. After two of five sessions the patient achieved full clinical remission, which has been sustained with the addition of azathioprine for more than 1 year.
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