Vol 49, No 7 (2021)

Background: The analysis of data obtained from real world clinical practice of management of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is an effective tool to improve medical care for this patient category. Studies of the kind are rare in Russia, which hinders a critical assessment of the current situation and optimization of the established approaches.

Aim: To study real world practice of medical treatment of patients with moderate and severe IBD in the Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus and Republic of Kazakhstan.

Materials and methods: We analyzed intermediate results from the INTENT study (NCT03532932), which is a multinational, multicenter, retrospective and prospective, non-interventional observation trial being performed in the Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus and Republic of Kazakhstan. The retrospective analysis included data from 706 patients above 18 years of age with confirmed diagnosis of moderate/severe ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) made at least 2 years before the study entry, with acute exacerbations of the disease at the study entry or within the last 2 years. Data were collected during routine management; at the study entry the patients were treated with a standard regimen including 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) agents, glucocorticosteroids (GCS) and immunosuppressants (IS), as well as genetically engineered biological agents (GEBA).

Results: Among 706 IBD patients, 465 had UC and 241 had CD. The male to female ratios in both groups were similar. Mean age of the UC patients was higher than that of the CD patients (41.8 [95% confidence interval (CI) 40.6–43.0] years vs 35.6 [95% CI 33.9–37.3] years, p = 0.0001). The same difference was noted for the mean age of disease manifestation (34.5 [95% CI 33.29–35.61] vs 29.7 [95% CI 28.03–31.3] years, p = 0.0001) and for mean duration of disease from the time of diagnosis to the study entry (7.3 [95% CI 6.77–7.9] for UC and 5.9 [95% CI 5.3–6.59] years for CD, p = 0.0027). The proportion of patients with familial history of IBD was low (3.2 and 0.8%, respectively, p = 0.0672). The number of smokers with CD was more than 2-fold higher than those with UC (11.2% vs 5%, p < 0.001). 58.1% of the patients in the UC group and 47.0% of those from the CD group were employed (р < 0.05). 36.6% of the UC patients and 56.0% of the CD patients had the legal disability status due to underlying disease (p < 0.005). The relapsing course of the disease was noted in 72.9% with UC and 60.6% with CD, while in the rest of the patients the disease had the continuous course. The degree of UC involvement corresponded to pancolitis in 58.9% of the cases, to left-sided colitis in 33.1%, and to proctitis in 8%. The distribution of CD location was as follows: ileocolitis 54.8%, terminal ileitis 23.7%, colitis 20.3%, isolated upper gastrointestinal tract involvement 1.2%. The prevalence of complicated UC was 12.9%, and that of the complicated CD 57.4% (р = 0.0001). There were no difference in the rate of extraintestinal manifestations between UC and CD (23.4 and 28.2%, respectively, p = 0.1705). UC and CD groups differed by their treatment patterns. In the UC group, 5-ASA + GCS regimens were given to 25.4% of the patients, whereas in the CD group, to 3.7% (р ≤ 0.0001). The second frequent regimens were: 5-ASA with subsequent IS ± GCS (17.9% in UC, 22.8% in CD, p = 0.1331); standard regimen (any 5-ASA agent, IS or GCS, but not GEBA) with subsequent treatment withdrawal or its reduction to GCS monotherapy (14.8% in UC, 5% in CD, р = 0.0001); 5-ASA with a subsequent combination with IS, then any tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor (iTNF-α) as the basic treatment with continuation of 5-ASA and/or IS (22% in CD vs 13.5% in UC, р = 0.0052); treatment initiation from iTNF-α combined with any standard agent without any subsequent modification (24.1% in CD and 13.6% in UC, р = 0.0007). Less frequent the following treatment regimens were used: initial treatment with 5-ASA and subsequent iTNF-α with continuation of 5-ASA (4.5% in UC and 2.5% in CD, р = 0.2181); initial treatment with iTNF-α in combination with any standard agent with subsequent GEBA withdrawal and continuation of a standard regimen or its withdrawal (4.3% in UC and 7.5% in CD, р = 0.0812). The cumulative frequency of GEBA administration at various stages of treatment for CD (66.4%) was significantly higher than for UC (39.4%). Vedolizumab for CD was administered more frequently than for UC (10.4 and 3.4%, respectively, p = 0.0003). The analysis of habitual GCS use revealed a number of negative trends, namely, half of the IBD patients received more than 2 GCS courses within 2 years, and in some cases the number of GCS courses amounted to 5–8. Mean duration of a GCS course in most regimens for UC and CD was in the range of 91 to 209 days, which is significantly higher than the recommended treatment duration of 12 weeks (83 days).

Conclusion: With a number of its demographic characteristics and clinical particulars, the study cohort of patients with IBD is compatible to global trends: the male to female ratio, mean patients’ age, young age at disease manifestation, smoking status, prevalence of extraintestinal manifestations and the location of CD. It is of note that 5-ASA is included into almost all treatment regimens for CD, which does not meet the treatment strategy recommended in the guidelines. Frequent administration and long duration of GCS therapy also is in contradiction with the guidelines. Of significant concern is rather rare and late administration of GEBA, especially for UC. We believe that the identified pitfalls are associated both with low awareness of doctors on the current strategies of IBD management and with low patients' compliance to treatment.

Background: Worldwide studies of genetic material, polymorphisms and prognostic gene models for immune-associated disorders have established differences in trans-ethnic population cohorts, which determine phenotypic and other characteristics of the course of these diseases. Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a  chronic immune inflammation of the colon mucosa. More than 100 gene polymorphisms associated with multiple integrated cross-talks have been discovered.

Aim: To study the ITGA4, ITGB7, TNFα, IL10 genes polymorphisms in patients with ulcerative colitis belonging to the Buryat ethnic group and living in Irkutsk region, Buryat Republic and Transbaikal territory.

Materials and methods: The study included a total of 49 subjects, 24 of them being UC patients and 25 healthy volunteers, compatible in gender, age and ethnic background. The molecular genetic analysis by real time polymerase chain reaction was performed with DNA samples from whole peripheral blood leucocytes.

Results: The differences in the prevalence of the ITGA4(rs1143674, rs1449263), ITGB7(rs11574532), TNFα(rs1800629), and IL10(rs1800871) genotypes were non-significant (р>0.05). The IL10(rs1800896) GG homozygote patients had higher odds ratio (OR) for UC compared to the carriers of other polymorphisms (OR 24; 95%  confidence interval (CI) 2.783–206.969; р=0.001). The AA homozygote type was less frequent among UC patients compared to healthy volunteers (OR 0.17; 95%  CI 0.049–0.589; р=0.004). The analysis of genotype frequency distribution of all studied genes including clinical characteristics of the disease showed no significant results (р>0.05). The binary logistic regression analysis has shown that IL10(rs1800896)GG was an UC predictor with sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 50%  (AUC 0.760; 95% CI 0.621–0.899; p=0.002; standard error 0.71).

Conclusion: The GG genotype of IL10(rs1800896) is a  UC predictor, whereas the AA genotype is significantly more prevalent among healthy subjects of the Buryat cohort. 

On May 22, 2021, the Expert Board met in St. Petersburg to discuss their position on immunological aspects of determination of an adequate biological treatment sequence for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The Expert Board aimed at discussion of current strategies, development of a consensus on determination of an adequate biological treatment sequence for IBD. The main topics of the agenda were the contribution of immune system to the pathophysiology of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and their complications, efficacy of genetically engineered biological agents (GEBA) at various stages of IBD management. Participation of the leading Russian experts in IBD, as well as involvement of other specialties, made it possible to consider the topic by a multidisciplinary team, with an in-depth analysis of IBD pathophysiology, to better understand the course of the disease in some contradictory situation, for instance, when clinical remission is not associated with an endoscopically confirmed remission. One of the expected effects of this Expert Board meeting would be an improvement of GEBA administration in clinical practice, mostly due to the modification of clinical guidelines. This would ascertain and confirm the algorithms for GEBA administration for IBD, including the optimal treatment sequence depending on an agent’s mechanism of action and the patient profile. The clarification of the optimal GEBA sequence in the clinical guidelines could lead to more frequent GEBA administration in local medical clinics and institutions in the regions, where GEBA are used insufficiently due to little experience and absence of their precise positioning in the clinical guidelines.

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a rare genetic autosomal recessive disease typical for special ethnic groups, such as Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Turks and other ethnicities inhabiting the Mediterranean coast. The characteristic clinical signs and symptoms of the disease are recurrent episodes of fever, associated with polyserositis, in particular, with benign (aseptic) peritonitis. The disease is caused by mutation in the MEFV gene encoding the synthesis of the protein pyrine, which leads to an uncontrolled release of pro-inflammatory cytokines by granulocytes. The criterion for the severe course of the disease is AA-renal amyloidosis associated with an unfavorable prognosis. Here we present a clinical case of classic FMF with high fever and abdominal pain syndrome. A 26-year-old Armenian patient had a sudden attack of fever and severe pain in the right iliac area several months before his first hospital admission. Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and antispasmodics were unable to relieve the symptoms, with the attack ceasing spontaneously after 3 days from the beginning. Thereafter, the attacks recurred 1 to 2 times per month within a year. During hospital stay at the peak of the attack, peritoneal symptoms at abdominal palpation, together with neutrophilic leukocytosis and a significant increase in acute phase parameters of inflammation (C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, erythrocyte sedimentation rate) were found. Based on the characteristics of the complaints, past history, laboratory and instrumental results, we excluded infections, autoimmune and surgical disorders and made a decision to perform genetic testing to detect the MEFV gene mutation. Confirmation of the mutation has led to the definitive diagnosis of FMF. This clinical case is remarkable for its late onset, which is not typical for FMF. As a result, the patient was prescribed continuous therapy with сolchicine. Six months of the follow up have demonstrated a positive trend with no attacks during this period.

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В статье представлен обзор основных клинических, эндоскопических и  лабораторных методов оценки активности язвенного колита и  существующих подходов к  ведению пациентов с этим заболеванием, достигших ремиссии. Подробно освещен новый метод – определение непрерывно мониторируемого долговременного клинического ответа – для оценки течения язвенного колита в  период между обострениями на примере исследования PURSUIT-M. Предложены современные возможности внедрения непрерывно мониторируемого долговременного клинического ответа в  рутинную медицинскую практику