Treatment of Crohn's disease with infliximab.

The role of infliximab in managing Crohn's disease (CD) is described. CD is characterized by chronic transmural inflammation at various sites of the gastrointestinal tract, particularly the ileum and colon. The major symptoms are diarrhea, abdominal pain, enterocutaneous and perianal fistulas, and weight loss. Management goals include alleviating symptoms, inducing remission, promoting healing of the intestinal mucosa and fistulas, and modifying the disease process. Drugs traditionally used to manage CD are aminosalicylates, antimicrobials, immunomodulatory agents, and corticosteroids. Infliximab is a chimeric (human-mouse) monoclonal antibody targeted at human tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), a proinflammatory cytokine important in the pathogenesis of CD. Infliximab antagonizes the biological activity of TNF-alpha by binding to it on macrophage and T-cell surfaces. Clinical trials have shown infliximab to be effective in producing and maintaining a clinical response in patients with refractory, moderate to severe CD. Treatment helps promote healing of intestinal mucosa and closure of fistulas. Infliximab may act more rapidly than most traditional agents and produces less severe adverse effects. The most frequent adverse effects are headache, nausea, and upper-respiratory-tract infections. The recommended dosage is 5 mg/kg i.v. infused over a two-hour period. Infliximab may be given at eight-week intervals for maintenance or management of flare-ups. Infliximab appears useful in the treatment of CD and may improve patients' quality of life.

Effect of high-dose ibuprofen on 24-hour blood pressure in healthy women.

The nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) indomethacin has been shown to increase blood pressure in normotensive individuals. The effect of other NSAID on blood pressure has not been as well studied. We evaluated the effects of ibuprofen, an NSAID currently available without a prescription, on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in ten young, healthy, normotensive women. Using a randomized, crossover, double-blind design, subjects received ibuprofen 800 mg and a placebo identical in appearance to ibuprofen three times a day for eight days with a washout period between regimens. Subjects were instructed to follow a no-added salt diet during the study. Twenty-four-hour blood pressure monitoring and 24-hour urine collection for prostaglandin E2, creatinine, and sodium were performed on days 1 and 8 of each study week. Tablet counts and a 40 percent reduction in urinary prostaglandin E2 documented compliance with ibuprofen. Ibuprofen had no significant effect on systolic or diastolic blood pressure at any hour during the 24-hour period. Mean blood pressure for the 24-hour period was 112/73 and 111/73 mm Hg on day 1 and 111/73 and 112/73 mm Hg on day 8 for placebo and ibuprofen, respectively. We conclude that ibuprofen at doses as high as 2400 mg/d for up to seven days has no effect on blood pressure in normotensive women. Further studies are needed in hypertensive subjects.