Methods: Participants (n=78, ages 6-17 years) in this study were part of the PAILOT trial; they were naïve to biologic therapy with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease. This was a randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate proactive vs reactive therapeutic drug monitoring in children with Crohn’s disease (CD) treated with adalimumab.
Key findings:
There was no significant difference in the rates of sustained corticosteroid-free clinical remission (25/34, 73%, vs 28/44, 63%; P = 0.35) or sustained composite outcome of clinical remission, C-reactive protein ≤0.5 mg/dL, and calprotectin ≤150 µg/g (10/34, 29%, vs 14/44, 32%; P = 0.77) between the combination group and the monotherapy group, respectively.
Adalimumab trough concentrations and immunogenicity were not significantly different between groups. The rate of serious adverse events was not significantly different between groups but was numerically higher in the monotherapy group. The monotherapy group had three patients undergo ileo-cecal resection.
The discussion reviews a number of studies that have compared combination and monotherapy. One key point is that this study enrolled children who were naïve to biologic therapy; thus, combination therapy may be more useful in those who have failed a previous biologic, particularly if the loss of response was immune-mediated.
My take: This study indicates that combination therapy is likely not routinely needed in children who start adalimumab and who are naïve to biologic therapy. Another finding of interest is the relatively low sustained composite outcome of clinical remission, approximately 30; this outcome combined clinical remission with biological markers. ~30%
“We found histologic evidence of UC activity (Geboes score ≥ 2B.1) in biopsies from 182 patients (65%) and endoscopic evidence of UC activity in 149 patients (53%) (substantial agreement, κ = 0.60).”
“Histologic features of UC activity were associated with increased rates of systemic corticosteroid use, colectomy, and hospitalization in the entire cohort (P < .05 for all) and associated with increased rates of systemic corticosteroid use in an analysis limited to patients in endoscopic remission (P < .001).”
At ileo-colonoscopy, 63% of patients had endoscopic healing and 55% had histologic evidence of healing. The level of agreement between endoscopic and histologic activity was fair (62%, K = 0.2250, P = .0064)
On multivariate analysis, only histologic healing was associated with decreased risk of clinical relapse (hazard ratio [HR], 2.05; 95% CI, 1.07–3.94; P = .031), medication escalation (HR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.2–3.96; P = .011), and corticosteroid use (HR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.17–5.09; P = .018).
Kaplan-Meier analysis of effect of endoscopic and histologic activity on (A) clinical relapse-free survival versus histologic healing, (B) clinical relapse-free survival versus endoscopic healing
D Kevans et al. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2020; 26: 1722-1729. Histological Markers of Clinical Relapse in Endoscopically Quiescent Ulcerative Colitis Key finding: In endoscopically quiescent UC (n=76), active histological inflammation …[is] adjunctive histological marker associated with increased likelihood of disease relapse. The associated editorial (1730-32 by Asher Kornbluth) quotes Voltaire: “A wise Italian says that the best is the enemy of the good.” He notes that there is “a very real risk of abandoning an effective drug while chasing the goal of some yet to be universally defined histologic remission.” Currently organizational guidelines (ACG, AGA, ECCO, IOIBD) do NOT suggest the use of histologic normalization as an endpoint at this point.
My take: These studies show that histologic healing in ileal Crohn’s disease and in ulcerative colitis are associated with better outcomes that endoscopic appearance. However, there are a lot questions because many patients, possibly a majority, will not achieve histologic healing despite aggressive treatment. Related technical issues include how many biopsies are needed to assess histology and having a validated histologic assessment.
Disclaimer: This blog, gutsandgrowth, assumes no responsibility for any use or operation of any method, product, instruction, concept or idea contained in the material herein or for any injury or damage to persons or property (whether products liability, negligence or otherwise) resulting from such use or operation. These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the gutsandgrowth blog cautions that independent verification should be made of diagnosis and drug dosages. The reader is solely responsible for the conduct of any suggested test or procedure. This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition.
I did not have the opportunity to hear this #NASPGHAN20 lecture but Dr. Benchimol has shared his slides. Link to Dropbox Slides: IBD Clinical Science: Year in Review
Some of the key points on slides (links to articles below):
Lots of data on COVID-19 and IBD. Steroids and Thiopurines are associated with more severe disease whereas anti-TNF agents are not
Lower intestinal barrier function is associated with increased risk for development of Crohn’s disease
More greenspace associated with lower rates of development of IBD
Exome sequencing has shown ~3% of pIBD with genetic mutations linked to monogenetic IBD & 1% with mutations which could benefit from HSCT. Identifying specific defects may lead to other treatments as well (eg. Leflunomide for TTC7A deficiency). Related blog posts:
Early biologic therapy associated with better long-term outcomes in adult and pediatric IBD
Reviewed data on adalimumab showing improvement in growth and relationship between good titers and clinical response (related post: IBD Update -September 2020)
Also, there will be a webinar for both patients and health care providers on November 19 with the SECURE-IBD steering committee as guests to go over the new data.
Methods: Overall, 399 (adult) “responders to intravenous ustekinumab induction and who were randomised to maintenance therapy were treated in the long‐term extension (115 received subcutaneous placebo, 141 received ustekinumab 90 mg every 12 weeks [q12w], and 143 received ustekinumab 90 mg q8w). Placebo treatment was discontinued at unblinding after week 44”
Key Findings:
Symptomatic remission rates (stool frequency = 0/1; rectal bleeding = 0) at week 92 were, 64.5% and 67.6% in the ustekinumab q12w and q8w groups, respectively ((Intent-to-treat population).
At week 44 of maintenance, measures of UC disease activity (eg Mayo scores) were generally comparable among patients randomised to ustekinumab q12w and q8w with 46.1% and 52.4% in clinical remission and 56.7% and 61.5% with endoscopic improvement respectively
Among randomised patients treated in the long‐term extension, 78.7% and 83.2% of patients receiving q12w and q8w, respectively, attained symptomatic remission at week 92; >95% of patients in symptomatic remission at week 92 were corticosteroid‐free
Disclaimer: This blog, gutsandgrowth, assumes no responsibility for any use or operation of any method, product, instruction, concept or idea contained in the material herein or for any injury or damage to persons or property (whether products liability, negligence or otherwise) resulting from such use or operation. These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the gutsandgrowth blog cautions that independent verification should be made of diagnosis and drug dosages. The reader is solely responsible for the conduct of any suggested test or procedure. This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition
Main Types of Anemia in Inflammatory Bowel Disease:
“IDA is the most common cause of anemia in children with IBD. True iron deficiency results from a number of factors, including chronic blood loss secondary to gastrointestinal bleeding, decreased iron absorption because of tissue or systemic inflammation and from reduced absorptive surface area. “
“Functional iron deficiency (FID) results from high levels of circulating hepcidin, which binds to and disables the iron transporter, ferroportin. Under the influence of hepcidin, ferroportin-mediated export of intracellular iron is stalled, leaving the iron trapped within the enterocytes and macrophages… the underlying inflammation, which induces hepcidin production can result in anemia secondary to FID.”
Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) “occurs from various downstream pathways secondary to inflammation.”
Table 4:
Recommended Testing
Screening Tests: “initially a complete blood count (CBC), CRP, and ferritin levels should be performed. If a patient is found to be anemic, then testing should include CBC with differential, including mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular Hgb concentration (MCHC), red cell distribution width (RDW), reticulocyte count, CRP, serum ferritin, and transferrin saturation (TSAT)”
Serum iron level … is … unreliable in the assessment of iron deficiency as the level fluctuates with several variables.
Transferrin saturation (TSAT) is a measure of the iron content in the circulating transferrin and reflects the availability of utilizable iron
Treatment of Anemia
In mild anemia (Hgb ≥10 g/dL) and/or quiescent disease, oral iron should be tried first.
Parenteral iron is indicated when oral iron is ineffective or poorly tolerated, in patients with moderate-severe anemia and/or with active inflammation.
According to ECCO guidelines, an IV replacement goal of achieving of ferritin level of up to 400 μg/L is more likely to prevent recurrence of anemia…a transferrin saturation of 50% and serum ferritin of 800 μg/L should not be exceeded
Regarding iron effects on microbiome: studies indicate that dysbiosis at baseline worsens the unfavorable shifts in microbiome with oral iron therapy…Our position, however, is that further studies are required in humans before any reliable conclusions can be drawn. [My question: have the effects of oral iron supplementation on the microbiome been compared to IV iron supplementation on the microbiome?]
Table 6 lists various iron products including costs and dosing.
The hypersensitivity reactions to parenteral iron are mostly secondary to iron nanoparticles that trigger complement activation-related pseudo-allergy (CARPA)….It is important that parenteral iron be administered by trained personnel. Emergency medications and resuscitative equipment should be available during these infusions.
My take: This is a useful resource for a very common problem.
Disclaimer: This blog, gutsandgrowth, assumes no responsibility for any use or operation of any method, product, instruction, concept or idea contained in the material herein or for any injury or damage to persons or property (whether products liability, negligence or otherwise) resulting from such use or operation. These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the gutsandgrowth blog cautions that independent verification should be made of diagnosis and drug dosages. The reader is solely responsible for the conduct of any suggested test or procedure. This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition
The authors used Empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP) scores which were calculated based on the weighted sums of 18 food groups obtained via food frequency questionnaires. n=166,903 women and 41,931 men
Key findings:
“In an analysis of 3 large prospective cohorts, we found dietary patterns with high inflammatory potential to be associated with increased risk of CD but not UC.”
Compared with participants in the lowest quartile of cumulative average EDIP score, those in the highest quartile (highest dietary inflammatory potential) had a 51% higher risk of CD (HR 1.51; 95% CI 1.10–2.07; Ptrend = .01).
There were 328 cases of CD and 428 cases of UC over 4,949,938 person-years of follow-up. The median age at IBD diagnosis was 55 years (range 29–85 years)
Discussion points:
Food groups that are associated with unfavorable EDIP scores “are characterized by calorie-dense foods high in animal proteins, saturated fats, and glycemic carbohydrates, such as red meat, refined grain, and high-energy soft drinks.”
“Dietary patterns resembling the Western diet, characterized by higher intake of red meat, high-fat dairy, and refined grains, have been proposed to trigger the onset of intestinal inflammation by inducing changes in gut microbiome, altering host homeostasis, and regulating T-cell immune response.”
“In contrast, diets rich in fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish, and poultry, resembling a more prudent and Mediterranean dietary pattern with high fiber and marine ω-3 content, may have anti-inflammatory effects.”
The authors state that both a PPD or TB Blood Test (aka Quantiferon-TB Gold) are reasonable for most individuals, though they have a preference for the TB Blood Test.
For those with history of BCG vaccination, the TB Blood Test is recommended
Steroids are associated with negative PPD and indeterminate TB Blood Test.
The authors advocate baseline testing prior to biologic therapy for everyone.
Annual testing: For those in high TB endemic areas, “we propose yearly chest x-ray in addition to IGRA [TB Blood Test]…in low endemic areas…we do not perform yearly chest x-rays nor do we check yearly IGRA unless mandated by a patient’s insurance.”
My take: TB blood testing is more convenient but more costly. The authors indicate that for patients from low endemic areas, yearly TB testing is mainly to check boxes mandated by insurance companies rather than improving care.
Disclaimer: This blog, gutsandgrowth, assumes no responsibility for any use or operation of any method, product, instruction, concept or idea contained in the material herein or for any injury or damage to persons or property (whether products liability, negligence or otherwise) resulting from such use or operation. These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the gutsandgrowth blog cautions that independent verification should be made of diagnosis and drug dosages. The reader is solely responsible for the conduct of any suggested test or procedure. This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition
Methods: “We conducted a national, prospective multi-centre IBD inception cohort study, including 1399 children. Diagnostic delay was defined as time from symptom onset to diagnosis >75 th percentile.”
Key findings:
In CD, diagnostic delay was associated with a 2.5-times higher rate of strictures/internal fistulae (HR 2.53, 95% CI 1.41-4.56)
Every additional month of diagnostic delay was associated with a decrease in height-for-age z-score of 0.13 standard deviations
Diagnostic delay was more common in CD, particularly small bowel CD
My take: Delays in diagnosis in this study were associated with stricturing/internal fistulising complications and growth impairment in paediatric CD. It is likely that inadequate treatment would increase the risk of these problems as well.
CCFA: Updates in IBD (2017) -Dr. Kugathasan lecture discussed the RISK study and reported that there is likely a window of opportunity to more favorably affect natural history of the disease
GEMINI long‐term safety (LTS) study results –initiated 2009:
Enrolled patients (UC, n = 894; CD, n = 1349) received vedolizumab 300 mg IV every 4 weeks. Total of 7999 patient years of vedolizumab exposure.
Vedolizumab discontinuation due to AEs occurred in 15% (UC) and 17% (CD) of patients.
There were no new trends for infections, malignancies, infusion‐related reactions, or hepatic events, and no cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
Conclusion from authors: “The safety profile of vedolizumab remains favourable with no unexpected or new safety concerns.”
Surgical options include Ileal pouch–anal anastomosis (IPAA), rectal-sparing colectomy with end ileostomy (RCEI), and ileorectal anastomosis (IRA). Conclusions based on “a patient-level state transition microsimulation in TreeAge Pro:”… “Despite an increased risk of infertility, our model results suggest that IPAA may be the optimal surgical strategy for female UC patients aged 20–30 years who desire children. For patients aged 35 years, RCEI should additionally be considered, as QALYs for RCEI and IPAA were similar.” In older age group, RCEI’s increase rate of childbirth (28%), decrease time to childbirth (14 months) and 77% reduction in IVF are important factors.
In this retrospective study with 145 patients, the overall cure rate of CDI after FMT was 80.0%, without CDI recurrence at median follow-up of 9.3 (range, 0.1–51) months. The authors concluded that “fecal microbiota transplantation effectively treats recurrent CDI in IBD patients but has no apparent beneficial effect on the IBD course.”
Discussions about family/peer relationships, school/extracurricular activities, and mood were not addressed in 30%-40% of participants.
Adolescents frequently reported that no one had talked to them about substance use (40%), sexual health (50%), or body image (60%)
75% of adolescents and 76% of their parents reported that no one had discussed transitioning to an adult provider.
There is likely a wide variability in addressing psychosocial issues among providers and centers. Limitations for this type of study includes recall bias and selection bias.
The associated editorial (MJ Ladinsky, MB Cohen, pg 20-22) urge us to ‘Mind the Gap.’ This likely means allowing sufficient time and arranging opportunities for teens to speak directly (& alone) with care provider. Like other aspects of care, establishing a standardized approach is likely to be helpful.
My take: As noted on this blog previously, emotional health issues are likely more important than other aspects of IBD care that attract more consistent attention (eg. vaccination); the message is clear that these needs need to be addressed.
Disclaimer: This blog, gutsandgrowth, assumes no responsibility for any use or operation of any method, product, instruction, concept or idea contained in the material herein or for any injury or damage to persons or property (whether products liability, negligence or otherwise) resulting from such use or operation. These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the gutsandgrowth blog cautions that independent verification should be made of diagnosis and drug dosages. The reader is solely responsible for the conduct of any suggested test or procedure. This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition
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