Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics
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Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. · Jun 2015
Review Meta AnalysisSystematic review and meta-analysis: opportunistic infections and malignancies during treatment with anti-integrin antibodies in inflammatory bowel disease.
Anti-integrin antibodies are effective therapies for Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). However, these drugs carry theoretical risks of opportunistic infection and malignancy. ⋯ Absolute numbers of opportunistic infections were higher with anti-integrin antibodies, but this difference is not statistically significant. There was no increased risk of malignancy detected. Long-term data in large prospective cohorts are needed to further assess this issue.
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Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. · Jun 2015
ReviewReview article: applying pharmacokinetics to optimise dosing of anti-TNF biologics in acute severe ulcerative colitis.
Acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC), the most aggressive presentation of ulcerative colitis (UC), occurs in 15% of adults and children with UC. First line therapy with intravenous corticosteroids is ineffective in half of adults and one-third of children. Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies against TNF (anti-TNF therapy) are emerging as a common treatment for ASUC due to their similar efficacy to calcineurin inhibitors and more favourable adverse effect profile. ⋯ Conventional weight-based dosing effective in patients with moderately to severely active UC, may not be equally effective in those with acute severe ulcerative colitis. Personalised anti-TNF dosing strategies, which integrate patient factors and early measures of pharmacokinetics and response, hold promise for ensuring sustained drug exposure and maximising early mucosal healing in patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis.
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Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. · Jun 2015
Comparative diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance elastography vs. eight clinical prediction rules for non-invasive diagnosis of advanced fibrosis in biopsy-proven non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a prospective study.
Two-dimensional magnetic resonance elastography (2D-MRE) is an advanced magnetic resonance method with high diagnostic accuracy for predicting advanced fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. However, no prospective, head-to-head comparisons between 2D-MRE and clinical prediction rules (CPRs) have been performed in patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD. ⋯ Compared to clinical prediction rules, 2D-MRE provides significantly higher accuracy for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis in NAFLD patients.