Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in inactive Crohn's disease:Influence of thiopurine and biological treatment

AIM:To investigate the influence of thiopurines and biological drugs on the presence of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth(SIBO) in patients with inactive Crohn's disease(CD).METHODS:This was a prospective study in patients with CD in remission and without corticosteroid treatment,included consecutively from 2004 to 2010.SIBO was investigated using the hydrogen glucose breath test.RESULTS:One hundred and seven patients with CD in remission were included.Almost 58%of patients used maintenance immunosuppressant therapy and 19.6%used biological therapy.The prevalence of SIBO was16.8%.No association was observed between SIBO and the use of thiopurine Immunosuppressant(12/62patients),administration of biological drugs(2/21 patients),or with double treatment with an anti-tumor necrosis factor drugs plus thiopurine(1/13 patients).Half of the patients had symptoms that were suggestive of SIBO,though meteorism was the only symptom that was significantly associated with the presence of SIBO on univariate analysis(P<0.05).Multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of meteorism and a fistulizing pattern were associated with the presence of SIBO(P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Immunosuppressants and/or biological drugs do not induce SIBO in inactive CD.Fistulizing disease pattern and meteorism are associated with SIBO.

Adalimumab in prevention of postoperative recurrence of Crohn's disease in high-risk patients

AIM:To evaluate the effectiveness of adalimumab in preventing recurrence after intestinal resection for Crohn's disease in high-risk patients.METHODS:A multicenter,prospective,observational study was conducted from June 2009 until June 2010.We consecutively included high-risk Crohn's disease patients who had undergone an ileal/ileocolonic resection.High-risk patients were defined as two or more criteria:smokers,penetrating pattern,one or more previous surgical resections or prior extensive resection.Subcutaneous adalimumab was administered 2 wk(± 5 d) after surgery at a dose of 40 mg eow,with an initial induction dose of 160/80 mg at weeks 0 and 2.Demographic data,previous and concomitant treatments(antibiotics,5-aminosalicylates,corticosteroids,immunomodulators or biologic therapies),smoking status at the time of diagnosis and after the index operation and number of previous resections(type and reason for surgery) were all recorded.Biological status was assessed with C-reactive protein,erythrocyte sedimentation rate and fecal calprotectin.One year(± 3 mo) after surgery,an ileocolonoscopy and/or magnetic resonance enterography was performed.Endoscopic recurrence was defined as Rutgeerts score ≥ i2.Morphological recurrence was based on magnetic resonance(MR) score ≥ MR1.RESULTS:Twenty-nine patients(55.2% males,48.3% smokers at diagnosis and 13.8% after the index operation),mean age 42.3 years and mean duration of the disease 13.8 years were included in the study.A mean of 1.76(range:1-4) resections previous to adalimumab administration and in 37.9% was considered extensive resection.51.7% had previously received infliximab.Immunomodulators were given concomitantly to 17.2% of patients.Four of the 29(13.7%) developed clinical recurrence,6/29(20.7%) endoscopic recurrence and 7/19(36.8%) morphological recurrence after 1-year.All patients with clinical recurrence showed endoscopic and morphological recurrence.A high degree of concordance was found between clinical-endoscopic recurrence(k = 0.76,P < 0.001) and clinical-morphological recurrence(k = 0.63,P = 0.003).Correlation between endoscopic and radiological findings was good(comparing the 5-point Rutgeerts score with the 4-point MR score,a score of i4 was classified as MR3,i3 as MR2,and i2-i1 as MR1)(P < 0.001,r s = 0.825).During follow-up,five(17.2%) patients needed adalimumab dose intensification(40 mg/wk);Mean time to intensification after the introduction of adalimumab treatment was 8 mo(range:5 to 11 mo).In three cases(10.3%),a biological change was needed due to a worsening of the disease after the dose intensification to 40 mg/wk.One patient suffered an adverse event.CONCLUSION:Adalimumab seems to be effective and safe in preventing postoperative recurrence in a selected group of patients who had undergone an intestinal resection for their CD.

rate of adverse events of gastroduodenal snare polypectomy for non-flat polyp is low: A prospective and multicenter study

AIM To evaluate the rate of adverse events(AEs) during consecutive gastric and duodenal polypectomies in several Spanish centers. METHODS Polypectomies of protruded gastric or duodenal polyps ≥ 5 mm using hot snare were prospectively included. Prophylactic measures of hemorrhage were allowed in predefined cases. AEs were defined and graded according to the lexicon recommended by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Patients were followed for 48 h, one week and 1 mo after theprocedure. RESULTS308 patients were included and a single polypectomy was performed in 205. Only 36(11.7%) were on prior anticoagulant therapy. Mean polyp size was 15 ± 8.9 mm(5-60) and in 294 cases(95.4%) were located in the stomach. Hemorrhage prophylaxis was performed in 219(71.1%) patients. Nine patients presented AEs(2.9%), and 6 of them were bleeding(n = 6, 1.9%)(in 5 out of 6 AE, different types of endoscopic treatment were performed). Other 24 hemorrhagic episodes could be managed without any change in the outcome of the endoscopy and, consequently, were considered incidents. We did not find any independent risk factor of bleeding.CONCLUSION Gastroduodenal polypectomy using prophylactic measures has a rate of AEs small enough to consider this procedure a safe and effective method for polyp resection independently of the polyp size and location.