Inflammatory bowel diseases
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Inflamm. Bowel Dis. · Sep 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyHerpes Zoster Infection in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis Receiving Tofacitinib.
Tofacitinib is an oral, small molecule Janus kinase inhibitor that is being investigated for ulcerative colitis (UC). Tofacitinib is approved for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis, where it has been shown to increase herpes zoster (HZ) risk. We evaluated HZ risk among UC patients using tofacitinib. ⋯ In tofacitinib-treated UC patients, there was an elevated risk of HZ, although complicated HZ was infrequent. Increased HZ rates occurred in patients who were older, Asian, or had prior TNFi failure (NCT00787202, NCT01465763, NCT01458951, NCT01458574, NCT01470612).
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Inflamm. Bowel Dis. · Sep 2018
ReviewPositioning Tofacitinib in the Treatment Algorithm of Moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis.
Treatment options for ulcerative colitis (UC) remain limited because conventional therapies do not succeed at controlling the disease in a considerable percentage of patients, while up to 30% of those receiving biologics are primary nonresponders and 10%-20% lose response per year, requiring an increase in the treatment dose or the use of a different drug. Recently, tofacitinib, an orally administered small molecule that inhibits the Janus kinases, was proven efficacious for inducing and maintaining remission in adult patients with moderate to severe UC. Tofacitinib may represent a therapeutic alternative for the management of UC, pending approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency, and other international regulatory authorities. Herein, we review tofacitinib's efficacy and safety data reported from randomized controlled trials in UC populations, with the aim to define how this new molecule could be inserted into the therapeutic algorithm of patients with UC.