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IBD highlights from DDW 2015
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WASHINGTON — Many new developments in prevention, diagnosis and treatment for inflammatory bowel disease were among the most popular stories in Healio Gastroenterology’s live coverage of Digestive Disease Week 2015.
Here we present 10 highlights of research in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis presented at the conference.
1. Statin use offers protection from new-onset IBD
No matter the statin used, these medications were associated with a decreased risk of new-onset inflammatory bowel disease with increased protection in older patients.
“Exposure to statins may decrease risk of new onset IBD by about 40%,” Ryan C. Ungaro, MD, of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City, said in his presentation. “The risk decreased with all specific statins.” Read more
2. EUS accurately detects early response with Humira in active ulcerative colitis
Mark Ellrichmann
Endoscopic ultrasound reliably evaluated early response in patients with active ulcerative colitis following treatment with Humira, and shows promise as a potential diagnostic tool.
“The aim of our study was to evaluate the use of EUS of the colonic wall in patients with active UC undergoing treatment with the anti-TNF antibody adalimumab,” Mark Ellrichmann, MD, from University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, said in a presentation. “We tried to exactly quantify the level of inflammation just by endoscopic means, and we tried to predict the early response to this TNF-alpha antibody.” Read more
3. Sexual dysfunction more prevalent in men with IBD
Men with inflammatory bowel disease are more likely to have impaired sexual dysfunction.
“The symptoms of IBD, disease complications and treatments impair body image, sexual function and intimacy,” Aoibhlinn M. O’Toole, MD, a clinical fellow in the IBD Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said during her presentation. “Despite the clear significance of these issues, the knowledge and extent of the impact is scarce.” Read more
4. Rural environment lowers rates of IBD in Canada
Eric I. Benchimol
Exposure to a rural environment at a young age was associated with lower risk of inflammatory bowel disease.
“Rural household at diagnosis is associated with lower risk of IBD in Canada. This association is strongest in children,” Eric I. Benchimol, MD, assistant professor at the University of Ottawa, said during his presentation. “In our birth cohort, early life exposure to the rural environment is protective.” Read more
5. Entyvio shows promise in pediatric patients with IBD
Two studies presented during DDW 2015 showed safety and efficacy of Entyvio used in pediatric patients with a range of inflammatory bowel diseases.
“Vedolizumab was associated with week 6 and week 14 remission in both pediatric ulcerative colitis and pediatric Crohn’s disease patients, with UC patients having higher rates of remission than Crohn’s,” Namita Singh, MD, of Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles, said during her presentation.
Ronen Stein, MD, from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, also presented data on vedolizumab therapy in patients with severe pediatric IBD, defined as those that had previously failed therapy. Read more
6. Recurrent C. difficile infection more common in IBD patients, increases risk for colectomy
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease have increased risk for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection compared with the general population, and those infected had a significantly increased risk for colectomy.
“We tried to identify risk factors for recurrent C. diff in IBD and then, of course, try to create a scoring model that would allow us to predict which patients had an elevated risk and therefore allow for early intervention,” Roshan Razik, MD, from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada, said in a presentation. Read more
7. TOUCHSTONE trial: Ozanimod induces remission in ulcerative colitis
William Sandborn
A larger dose of 1 mg of ozanimod induced remission of ulcerative colitis by week 8 of a study presented here.
“Ozanimod 1 mg induced clinical remission at week 8 and all three secondary endpoints were met for ozanimod 1 mg at week 8,” William Sandborn, MD, professor of medicine at the University California of San Diego, said. “A dose response relationship was observed for all primary and key secondary efficacy endpoints.” Read more
8. Study links increased dietary zinc intake to reduced risk of Crohn’s
Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan
Dietary intake of zinc was linked to reduced risk of Crohn’s disease.
“Higher intake of dietary zinc was associated with reduced risk of Crohn’s disease,” Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, MBBS, MPH, from Massachusetts General Hospital, said during his presentation. “Considerable mechanistic plausibility supports this association, including the effect of zinc on autophagy and microbial clearance, innate immune response and maintenance of the epithelial barrier integrity.” Read more
9. High-definition chromoendoscopy improves detection of dysplasia in UC patients
Compared with high-definition white light endoscopy, high-definition chromoendoscopy was associated with significantly improved detection of dysplastic lesions in patients with long standing ulcerative colitis.
“The question we asked ourselves was, ‘Is there a role for chromoendoscopy when we use high definition equipment?’” Venkat Subramanian, MD, from St. James University Hospital and University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, said in his presentation. “We did a randomized trial that compared the detection of dysplasia in patients with long standing ulcerative colitis when we used high-definition white light alone compared to high definition with chromoendoscopy.” Read more
10. MEDI2070 shows clinical benefit in Crohn’s previous treatment failures
Bruce E. Sands
A novel monoclonal antibody was associated with improved outcomes in a cohort of patients with active Crohn’s disease.
“MEDI2070 demonstrated a clinical effect at 8 weeks in patients with active [Crohn’s disease] who have failed anti-TNF therapy,” Bruce E. Sands, MD, of the division of gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, said in his presentation. Read more