Document Detail


Conventional treatment of Crohn's disease: objectives and outcomes.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  11380039     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Despite conventional medical and/or surgical intervention, endoscopic and symptomatic relapse is common among individuals with Crohn's disease (CD). Treatment goals have therefore been refocused to include achieving control of active disease and maintaining remission with agents associated with a minimum of toxic adverse effects. Conventional treatment regimens have been used with varying success in regard to these therapeutic goals. Traditionally, aminosalicylates have been considered effective in inducing a response in some patients with mild-to-moderate CD but have demonstrated little or no long-term benefit in controlled clinical trials. Glucocorticosteroid therapy is associated with higher rates of response in patients with active CD; however, clinical benefits are frequently offset by the common occurrence of corticosteroid-related toxicity. Oral controlled-release budesonide has demonstrated comparable efficacy to prednisolone with less risk for adverse effects, although many questions remain regarding the long-term use of this agent. Response to standard immunosuppressive agents such as azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine in patients with active disease may require 3 to 6 months from initiation of treatment. These agents are therefore considered most valuable as maintenance therapy, providing consistent long-term benefit in patients with chronic refractory or corticosteroid-dependent disease. Although the incidence of allergic adverse effects is relatively low with azathioprine/6-mercaptopurine, more serious adverse effects, including bone marrow suppression, hepatotoxicity, pancreatitis, and infectious complications, can occur. Limited success in the treatment of perianal disease has been achieved with antibiotics such as metronidazole and the immunosuppressives cyclosporine and azathioprine/6-mercaptopurine. Although broader use of immunosuppressive agents has allowed improvement in the maintenance of remission in patients with CD, long-term safety data with these agents are lacking, concerns about toxicity and the potential risk for neoplasia remain, and attenuation of response with chronic immunosuppressive use can occur. Therefore, innovative therapeutic approaches are needed to meet key treatment goals often not addressed by conventional therapies.
Authors:
P J Rutgeerts
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Review    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Inflammatory bowel diseases     Volume:  7 Suppl 1     ISSN:  1078-0998     ISO Abbreviation:  Inflamm. Bowel Dis.     Publication Date:  2001 May 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2001-05-29     Completed Date:  2001-10-04     Revised Date:  2007-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9508162     Medline TA:  Inflamm Bowel Dis     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  S2-8     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit, University of Leuven, Belgium.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
6-Mercaptopurine / therapeutic use
Aminosalicylic Acids / therapeutic use
Anti-Inflammatory Agents / therapeutic use*
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / therapeutic use*
Azathioprine / therapeutic use
Budesonide / therapeutic use
Clinical Trials as Topic
Crohn Disease / drug therapy*,  physiopathology
Humans
Immunosuppressive Agents / therapeutic use*
Mesalamine / therapeutic use
Methotrexate / therapeutic use
Prednisone / therapeutic use
Quality of Life
Recurrence
Sulfasalazine / therapeutic use
Treatment Outcome
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Aminosalicylic Acids; 0/Anti-Inflammatory Agents; 0/Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; 0/Immunosuppressive Agents; 446-86-6/Azathioprine; 50-44-2/6-Mercaptopurine; 51333-22-3/Budesonide; 53-03-2/Prednisone; 59-05-2/Methotrexate; 599-79-1/Sulfasalazine; 89-57-6/Mesalamine

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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