ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Reports of tuberculosis (TB) in patients administered infliximab prompted the Food and Drug Administration to recommend that all patients being considered for this therapy be evaluated for the risk for latent TB infection by means of a tuberculin skin test (TST). The aim of this study is to evaluate the utility of a TST as an adequate screen for TB exposure in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: Eighty-two consecutive patients with IBD (Crohn's disease, 70 patients; ulcerative colitis, 4 patients; indeterminate colitis, 8 patients) seen at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center IBD Center (Los Angeles, CA) being treated with or considered for infliximab therapy underwent a standard intradermal purified protein derivative (PPD) TST before or between infusions of infliximab. One or more control antigens (Candida, tetanus, and/or mumps) were concurrently placed on 69 of these patients. Skin tests were read for induration at 48-72 hours after placement, and results were recorded. RESULTS: None of 82 patients had a positive PPD TST result. Overall, 71% of patients (49 of 69 patients) with controls placed failed to react to any antigen. Eighty-three percent of patients (40 of 48 patients) who were administered corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressive medications, not including infliximab, for at least 1 month were anergic compared with 43% of patients (9 of 21 patients; P < 0.002) who were not administered those medications. CONCLUSIONS: Given the high prevalence of anergy, a negative TST result in patients with IBD administered infliximab is an unreliable indicator for TB exposure. Evaluation for TB risks should include not only a TST, but also a detailed history of travel, TB exposures, and such symptoms as chronic cough and weight loss, and a chest radiograph should be considered.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Monoclonal/administration & dosage , Immunosuppressive Agents/administration & dosage , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/drug therapy , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/immunology , Tuberculosis/diagnosis , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Antibodies, Monoclonal/adverse effects , Child , Clonal Anergy/immunology , Cohort Studies , Colitis, Ulcerative/drug therapy , Colitis, Ulcerative/epidemiology , Colitis, Ulcerative/immunology , Crohn Disease/drug therapy , Crohn Disease/epidemiology , Crohn Disease/immunology , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Immunosuppressive Agents/adverse effects , Incidence , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/epidemiology , Infliximab , Male , Mass Screening , Middle Aged , Prospective Studies , Risk Assessment , Severity of Illness Index , Treatment Outcome , Tuberculin/pharmacology , Tuberculin Test , Tuberculosis/epidemiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Wireless capsule enteroscopy (WCE) offers the potential to directly visualize the entire small bowel and identify superficial lesions not detected by traditional endoscopy and radiography. The aim of this study is to assess the clinical utility of WCE in the evaluation of patients with known or suspected inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: Fifty patients with ongoing symptoms underwent Given M2A endoscopic capsule examinations. Indications included: (1) evaluation for small-bowel involvement in patients with IBD with isolated colitis (n = 22), (2) determination of the extent of small-bowel disease in patients with Crohn's disease (CD; n = 20), and (3) workup of suspected IBD (n = 8). Outcome measures were classified as diagnostic when multiple ulcerations were present, suspicious when
Subject(s)
Capsules , Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/diagnosis , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Colitis, Ulcerative/diagnosis , Crohn Disease/diagnosis , Disease Management , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted , Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/classification , Intestinal Mucosa/diagnostic imaging , Intestinal Mucosa/pathology , Intestine, Small/diagnostic imaging , Intestine, Small/pathology , Los Angeles , Male , Middle Aged , Radiography, Interventional , Retrospective Studies , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Crohn's disease patients can be characterized by antibody responses against Crohn's disease-related bacterial sequence, Escherichia coli outer membrane porin C, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (oligomannan), and neutrophil nuclear antigens. Our aim was to determine whether expression of antibodies against Crohn's disease-related bacterial sequence and Escherichia coli outer membrane porin C is associated with distinct phenotypic manifestations. METHODS: Sera from 303 patients were tested for antibodies to the Crohn's disease-related bacterial sequence (I2), anti-Escherichia coli outer membrane porin C, anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies and for 3 Crohn's disease-associated variants of the NOD2 gene (R702W, G908R, and 1007fs) and compared with clinical data. RESULTS: Patients expressing I2 were more likely to have fibrostenosing Crohn's disease (64.4% vs. 40.7%; P < 0.001) and to require small bowel surgery (62.2% vs. 37.4%; P < 0.001). Patients with anti-Escherichia coli outer membrane porin C were more likely to have internal perforating disease (50.0% vs. 30.7%; P = 0.001) and to require small bowel surgery (61.4% vs. 44.2%; P = 0.003). Anti-Crohn's disease-related bacterial sequence was independently associated with fibrostenosis (P = 0.027) and small bowel surgery (P = 0.01), whereas anti-Escherichia coli outer membrane porin C was independently associated with internal perforations (P < 0.006). Patients positive for I2, anti-Escherichia coli outer membrane porin C, and anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae were the most likely to have undergone small bowel surgery (72.0%; odds ratio, 8.6; P < 0.001) compared with patients without reactivity (23.0%). When the presence and magnitude of antibody responses were considered, 90% of patients with small bowel disease who required surgery had high levels of I2, Escherichia coli outer membrane porin C, and oligomannan antibodies, compared with only 18.2% with low-titer responses (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: I2 and anti-Escherichia coli outer membrane porin C are associated with Crohn's disease phenotypes, and patients with the highest level of serum reactivity toward an increasing number of microbiota have the greatest frequency of strictures, internal perforations, and small bowel surgery.
