A study, published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, examined what factors inflammatory bowel disease patients respond to in anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy.
Soon Man Yoon, MD, of the Cheongju, South Korea-based Chungbuk National University, and colleagues analyzed patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. The patients were registered in a genetics registry and were treated with anti-TNF agents.
Researchers evaluated 314 patients with Crohn's and 145 with ulcerative colitis measuring for clinical, serological and genetic characteristics to anti-TNF agents. The researchers measured nonresponse or time to loss of response.
Here's what you should know:
1. Of the patient base with Crohn's, 51 were primary nonresponders and 179 were secondary nonresponders. Of those with ulcerative colitis 43 were primary nonresponders and 74 were secondary nonresponders.
2. The nonresponsive agents in Crohn's disease were:
- Colonic involvement
- Anti-TNF monotherapy to anti-TNF agents
3. Several factors were associated with patients losing a response to anti-TNF agents including:
- Higher anti-nuclear cytoplasmic antibody levels in Crohn's
- Antinuclear cytoplasmic antibody positive in ulcerative colitis
- Positive family history of IBD
4. Several IBD susceptibility single-nucleotide polymorphisms and related variants in immune-mediated genes were associated with nonresponse or a loss of response to anti-TNF agents as well, researchers said.
Researchers concluded, "Our results may help to optimize the use of anti-TNF agents in clinical practice and position these therapies appropriately as clinicians strive for a more personalized approach to managing IBD."