Maki Miyakawa, Hiroki Tanaka, Tomoyoshi Shibuya,Taro Osada, Eiji Hosoi Gastroenterol. 2019 156 (6) Suppl.S-666–S-667

Background: Few studies have assessed the safety of granulocyte and monocyte adsorptive apheresis (GMA) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) undergoing concomitant treatment with multiple immunosuppressant medications. To address this research gap, we investigated adverse effects associated with GMA in patients with IBD treated with multiple immunosuppressants  who  participated  in  the  “Post-marketing  surveillance  study  on  the safety and response of GMA treatment in patients with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis with at least one special situation who received Adacolumn® (PARTICULAR).” Methods: The PARTICULAR study was a retrospective, multicenter cohort study of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) who received GMA between November 2013 and March 2017. Patients meeting at least one of the following special situation were enrolled: elderly (<=65 years) or pediatric/adolescent (>=18 years) patients, patients with anemia, or patients undergoing concomitant treatment with multiple immunosuppressants. GMA was performed using Adacolumn® (JIMRO, Takasaki, Japan). Each patient received up to 11 GMA sessions, and all adverse events (AEs) during the study period were recorded. The incidence of AEs was investigated relative to the number and type of immunosuppressants using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: A total of 437 patients (368 UC, 69 CD) from 93 institutions were included. Of these, 140, 169, 101, and 27 patients received none, 1, 2, and >=3 immunosuppressants, respectively. In total, 125 patients received multiple immunosuppressants. Concomitant prednisolone, immunomodulators, anti-tumor necrosis factor agents, and calcineurin inhibitors were administered in 189, 151, 89, and 24 patients, respectively. The incidence of AEs was 11% in all 437 patients and 8%, 12%, 12%, and 26% in patients receiving none, 1, 2, and >=3 immunosuppressants, respectively. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, anemia and concomitant immunosuppressants were independently associated with the incidence of AEs. Particularly, a higher number of concomitant immunosuppressants showed an increasing trend with odds ratios related to AEs. In contrast, concomitant corticosteroids were associated with a reduced risk of AEs. Nausea/vomiting and headache were the most common AEs in patients on multiple immunosuppressant medications (5.6% and 3.2%, respectively). Conclusions: Concomitant treatment with immunosuppressants was independently associated with the incidence of AEs such as nausea/vomiting and headache in patients with IBD receiving GMA. As the number of concomitant immunosuppressants increased, the incidence of AEs also increased. However, our data also suggest that GMA is safe in patients with IBD receiving prednisolone.

https://www.gastrojournal.org/action/doSearch?text1=granulocyte+and+monocyte+apheresis+&field1=AllField&AfterYear=2018&BeforeYear=2021&pageSize=50&startPage=&SeriesKey=ygast

Hiroki Tanaka, Satoshi Motoya, Tomoyoshi Shibuya, Satoshi Tanida, Seiichiro Kokuma, Eiji Hosoi Gastroenterology 2018 154 (6) Suppl.S-996–S-997

Background: There are few studies on the usefulness of granulocyte and monocyte adsorptive apheresis (GMA) in elderly patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We investigated the safety and effectiveness of GMA in elderly patients who participated in the Post-marketing Surveillance Study of GMA Using Adacolumn® for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Who Have Special Situations (PARTICULAR). Methods: The PARTICULAR study is a retrospective, multicenter cohort study that included patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) who received GMA between November 2013 and March 2017. Patients with at least one special situation, including elderly patients, patients with anemia, and patients undergoing concomitant treatment with multiple immunosuppressants (IMs) were enrolled. Patients aged # 64 years were excluded from this study. GMA was performed using Adacolumn® (JIMRO, Takasaki, Japan). Each patient received up to a maximum of 11 GMA sessions. The safety of GMA was assessed in all patients. The effectiveness of GMA was assessed in patients with UC with a partial UC disease activity index (pUC-DAI) score of $ 3. Remission was defined as a pUC-DAI score of # 2. Patients receiving concomitant treatment with infliximab, adalimumab, or calcineurin inhibitors were excluded from the effectiveness assessment. The incidence of adverse events (AEs) and remission rates were compared between elderly patients with and without any special situation using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 125 elderly patients (118 UC, 7 CD) from 93 institutions were included. The median age was 73.2 years. Fifty-six patients did not have any special situation, and 69 had at least one or more special situations. The incidence of AEs was 11.2% in all patients. The incidence of AEs was significantly lower in elderly patients without any special situation (3.6%) than in those with at least one or more special situations (17.4%) (Figure 1A). AEs significantly occurred in elderly patients with anemia (21.9%) and on multiple concomitant IMs (23.8%) compared to those without any special situation (3.6%). Anemia and multiple concomitant IMs were identified as independent predictors for a higher incidence of AEs (Table 1). The effectiveness of GMA was assessed in 92 patients with UC. The remission rate was 48.9%. No difference was observed in the remission rate between elderly patients without any special situation (52.2%) and those with at least one or more special situations (45.7%) (Figure 1B). Conclusions: A low incidence of AEs (3.6%) was found in elderly IBD patients receiving GMA without any special situation. Remission was achieved by GMA in 48.6% of the elderly UC patients. Care should be taken when using GMA in elderly IBD patients with anemia or on multiple concomitant IMs

Katsuyoshi Matsuoka ¹, Taku Kobayashi ¹, Fumiaki Ueno ^2 3, Toshiyuki Matsui ¹, Fumihito Hirai ¹, Nagamu Inoue ¹, Jun Kato ¹, Kenji Kobayashi ¹, Kiyonori Kobayashi ¹, Kazutaka Koganei ¹, Reiko Kunisaki ¹, Satoshi Motoya ¹, Masakazu Nagahori ¹, Hiroshi Nakase ¹, Fumio Omata ¹, Masayuki Saruta ¹, Toshiaki Watanabe ¹, Toshiaki Tanaka ¹, Takanori Kanai ¹, Yoshinori Noguchi ¹, Ken-Ichi Takahashi ¹, Kenji Watanabe ¹, Toshifumi Hibi ¹, Yasuo Suzuki ¹, Mamoru Watanabe ¹, Kentaro Sugano ¹, Tooru Shimosegawa ¹ , J Gastroenterol. 2018 Mar;53(3):305-353.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disorder involving mainly the intestinal tract, but possibly other gastrointestinal and extraintestinal organs. Although etiology is still uncertain, recent knowledge in pathogenesis has accumulated, and novel diagnostic and therapeutic modalities have become available for clinical use. Therefore, the previous guidelines were urged to be updated. In 2016, the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology revised the previous versions of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) in Japanese. A total of 59 clinical questions for 9 categories (1. clinical features of IBD; 2. diagnosis; 3. general consideration in treatment; 4. therapeutic interventions for IBD; 5. treatment of UC; 6. treatment of CD; 7. extraintestinal complications; 8. cancer surveillance; 9. IBD in special situation) were selected, and a literature search was performed for the clinical questions with use of the MEDLINE, Cochrane, and Igaku Chuo Zasshi databases. The guidelines were developed with the basic concept of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Recommendations were made using Delphi rounds. This English version was produced and edited based on the existing updated guidelines in Japanese.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29429045/

Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for inflammatory bowel disease – PMC (nih.gov)

Muhammad Ali Muzammil ¹, Fnu Fariha ², Tirath Patel ³, Rohab Sohail ⁴, Munesh Kumar ⁵, Ejaz Khan ⁶, Bushra Khanam ⁷, Satesh Kumar ⁸, Mahima Khatri ⁹, Giustino Varrassi ¹⁰, Prasanthi Vanga ¹¹2023 Jun 28;15(6):e41120. doi: 10.7759/cureus.41120.

The functionality and aging mechanism of antibodies physisorbed onto cellulosic films
was investigated. Blood grouping antibodies immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) were adsorbed onto smooth cellulose acetate (CAF) and regenerated
cellulose (RCF) films. Cellulose films and adsorbed IgG layers were characterized at the
air and liquid interface by X-ray and neutron reflectivity (NR), respectively. Cellulose film
208 Å thick (in air) swell to 386 Å once equilibrated in water. IgG adsorbs from solution
onto cellulose as a partial layer 62 Å thick. IgG and IgM antibodies were adsorbed onto
cellulose and cellulose acetate films, air dried, and aged at room temperature for periods
up to 20 days. Antibody functionality and surface hydrophobicity were measured everyday with the size of red blood cell (RBC) agglutinates (using RBC specific to IgG/IgM)
and the water droplet contact angle, respectively. The functionality of the aged IgG/IgM
decreases faster if physisorbed on cellulose than on cellulose acetate and correlates to
surface hydrophobicity. IgG physisorbed on RCF or CAF age better and remain functional longer than physisorbed IgM. We found a correlation between antibody stability
and hydrogen bond formation ability of the system, evaluated from antibody carbonyl
concentration and cellulosic surface hydroxyl concentration. Antibody physisorbs on cellulose by weak dipole forces and hydrogen bonds. Strong hydrogen bonding contributes
to the physisorption of antibody on cellulose into a non-functional configuration in which
the molecule relaxes by rotation of hydophobic groups toward the air interface.

Functionality of Immunoglobulin G and Immunoglobulin M Antibody Physisorbed on Cellulosic Films – PubMed (nih.gov)

Cabriada, J.L., Rodríguez-Lago, I.

Enfermedad Inflamatoria Intestinal 20017 (16) 2, 62-69 DOI: 10.1016/j.eii.2016.12.001 

Granulocyte apheresis is a procedure that allows the removal of different activated leukocyte populations and it also modifies some circulating inflammatory mediators. These effects, along with its immunomodulatory potential, make it an attractive therapeutic option in inflammatory bowel disease. Previous studies with this technique have had significant limitations, but recent data is emerging about the ideal clinical setting in which granulocyte apheresis should be indicated. Most of the evidence supports its use in conditions that are dependent or refractory to corticosteroids, especially when treatments with immunomodulators or biologics has failed and when it is necessary to reduce or avoid the use of systemic corticosteroids. Its excellent safety profile gives it a role in cases of comorbidity or risk in the use of immunosuppressive drugs or in paediatric patients. In this review, we provide an update on the role of granulocyte apheresis in inflammatory bowel disease.

https://www.elsevier.es/es-revista-enfermedad-inflamatoria-intestinal-al-dia-220-articulo-granulocitoaferesis-2017-puesta-al-dia-S1696780116300999

Abbi R Saniabadi ¹, Tomotaka Tanaka ¹, Toshihide Ohmori ¹, Koji Sawada ¹, Takayuki Yamamoto ¹, Hiroyuki Hanai  World J gastroenterol. 2014 Aug 7;20(29):9699-715

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are the major phenotypes of the idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which afflicts millions of individuals throughout the world with debilitating symptoms, impairing function and quality of life. Current medications are aimed at reducing the symptoms or suppressing exacerbations. However, patients require life-long medications, and this can lead to drug dependency, loss of response together with adverse side effects. Indeed, drug side effects become additional morbidity factor in many patients on long-term medications. Nonetheless, the efficacy of anti-tumour necrosis factors (TNF)-α biologics has validated the role of inflammatory cytokines notably TNF-α in the exacerbation of IBD. However, inflammatory cytokines are released by patients’ own cellular elements including myeloid lineage leucocytes, which in patients with IBD are elevated with activation behaviour and prolonged survival. Accordingly, these leucocytes appear logical targets of therapy and can be depleted by adsorptive granulocyte/monocyte apheresis (GMA) with an Adacolumn. Based on this background, recently GMA has been applied to treat patients with IBD in Japan and in the European Union countries. Efficacy rates have been impressive as well as disappointing. In fact the clinical response to GMA seems to define the patients’ disease course, response to medications, duration of active disease, and severity at entry. The best responders have been first episode cases (up to 100%) followed by steroid naïve and patients with a short duration of active disease prior to GMA. Patients with deep ulcers together with extensive loss of the mucosal tissue and cases with a long duration of IBD refractory to existing medications are not likely to benefit from GMA. It is clinically interesting that patients who respond to GMA have a good long-term disease course by avoiding drugs including corticosteroids in the early stage of their IBD. Additionally, GMA is very much favoured by patients for its good safety profile. GMA in 21st century reminds us of phlebotomy as a major medical practice at the time of Hippocrates. However, in patients with IBD, there is a scope for removing from the body the sources of pro-inflammatory cytokines and achieve disease remission. The bottom line is that by introducing GMA at an early stage following the onset of IBD or before patients develop extensive mucosal damage and become refractory to medications, many patients should respond to GMA and avoid pharmacologics. This should fulfill the desire to treat without drugs.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25110409/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4123360/

T Hibi ¹, Y Sameshima, Y Sekiguchi, Y Hisatome, F Maruyama, K Moriwaki, C Shima, A R Saniabadi, T Matsumoto

Dig Liver Dis. 2009 Aug;41(8):570-7. doi: 10.1016/j.dld.2008.11.020. Epub 2009 Feb 10.

Background/aim: The Adacolumn selectively depletes granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages, which are thought to be part of the immunopathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. This work aims at evaluating the safety and clinical efficacy of the Adacolumn in patients with ulcerative colitis in large population-based data sets. Methods: The Adacolumn post marketing surveillance in Japan was undertaken on 697 patients in 53 medical institutions over 7 years from 29 October 1999 to 28 October 2006. Clinical efficacy and safety data were provided by patients’ physicians in the participating institutes. Results: Safety was evaluated in all the 697 patients and efficacy in 656 patients. At entry, 92% of the patients were on salicylates, 74% on prednisolone and only 9% on immunomodulators. Approximately 40% of patients had severe ulcerative colitis and over 70% had ulcerative colitis that was refractory to conventional medications. There was no serious adverse events; mild to moderate adverse events were seen in 7.7% of the patients. The overall response (remission or significantly improved) was 77.3%; the remission rate based on clinical activity index was 71.1%, while 17.1% remained unchanged and 5.6% worsened. Patients were subgrouped into severe, moderate and mild ulcerative colitis based on clinical activity index (n=578), the response rates were 63.2%, 65.7% and 80.4%, respectively (P<0.001). Endoscopic assessment of efficacy showed very significant mucosal healing, Matts’ endoscopic index improved from 3.2+/-0.04 to 2.1+/-0.7 (n=219, P<0.001); reduction in prednisolone dose (P<0.0001); leucocyte count (n=358, P<0.0001) and C-reactive protein (n=314, P<0.0001). Patients who received > or =6 Adacolumn sessions (n=319) did better than patients who received < or =5 sessions (n=188, P=0.004) and multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that baseline granulocyte count was the strongest predictor of clinical response to Adacolumn (P=0.0191, odds ratio 1.151). Conclusion: This post marketing surveillance provides the largest ever efficacy and safety data on the Adacolumn therapeutic leucocytapheresis in patients with ulcerative colitis. As a non-pharmacologic treatment for patients with active ulcerative colitis most of whom were refractory to conventional drug therapy, the observed efficacy was very significant. Baseline granulocyte count was convincingly an independent predictor of clinical response.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19211314/

B.J. Rembacken,H.E. Newbould,S.J. Richards,S.A. Misbah,M.E. Dixon,D.M. Chalmers,A.T.R. Axon THERAP APHERE DIAL (2007) 2 (2) 93-96  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-9987.1998.tb00082.x

We have studied the effects of granulocyte apheresis in 18 patients with ulcerative colitis and 6 with Crohn’s disease who had failed to respond to conventional therapy. Patients were treated with weekly apheresis using a granulocyte removal column. We found a mean reduction in circulating granulocytes of 1.29 × 10⁹ cells/L with no significant alterations in red blood cell monocyte, total lymphocyte, absolute T-helper, or T-cytotoxic lymphocyte counts. There were no significant changes in complement levels or immunoglobulin subclasses. There was a signifycant increase in granulocyte adhesion and a reduction in L-selectin expression. The removal of granulocytes is unlikely to explain the effect of granulocytapheresis. The markedly increased expression of α_m integrin/Mac-1 and low L-selectin expression alter the capability of granulocytes to migrate to sites of inflammation and may be responsible for the improvement observed in patients treated with granulocyte apheresis.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10225706/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1744-9987.1998.tb00082.x

Maria T Abreu ¹, Scott Plevy, Bruce E Sands, Robert Weinstein, J Clin Gastroenterol. Nov-Dec 2007;41(10):874-88.

The etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is not completely understood, thus current therapies have been empirical and directed at treating symptoms rather than addressing the cause. In IBD, the overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6, leads to a persistent intestinal inflammatory response that damages the intestinal mucosa. Recent advances in pharmacologic therapies that target specific cytokines, chemokines, and adhesion molecules have proved successful in alleviating symptoms for some patients. There are 2 selective adsorption apheresis devices that remove leukocytes from whole blood, which are currently available in Japan and Europe-the Cellsorba leukocytapheresis column and the Adacolumn adsorptive extracorporeal granulocyte/monocyte apheresis device. The purported mechanisms of action of these devices have been extensively reviewed and are believed to exert an immunomodulatory and/or anti-inflammatory effect on patients with systemic inflammatory disease.The clinical trials presented here indicate that selective leukocyte apheresis effectively removes activated granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages from peripheral blood while maintaining an excellent safety profile. Despite these findings, large controlled trials of selective leukocyte apheresis in the treatment of IBD are needed to determine the true efficacy of this approach.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18090155/

Ken Fukunaga, Hiroto Miwa, Takayuki Matsumoto January 2007 Tropical gastroenterology: official journal of the Digestive Diseases Foundation 28(1):11-5

Ulcerative colitis (UC) together with Crohn’s disease (CD) constitute idiopathic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) of the gut. The etiology of IBD is poorly understood, but autoimmune-disturbance has been suggested to play an important role in this incurable disease. Extracorporeal leukocyte removal therapy (ELRT) is the latest adjunct for IBD patient refractory to steroids, and it aims at suppressing immunological response by removing circulating leukocytes, especially granulocytes, from the blood stream. The present paper reviews the latest evidences in order to propose the current status of ELRT in the therapeutic strategy for IBD, especially for UC and CD. Clinical experience so far suggests that ELRT has superior efficiency as a non-pharmacological immuno-modulative therapy for steroid resistant UC patients before submission to colectomy. Moreover, ELRT has been proven to be a safe therapy compared with other current medications for severe UC.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5947344_Role_of_leukocytapheresis_in_the_management_of_inflammatory_bowel_disease