GASTROENTEROLOGY ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
May 28, 2009
Rutgeerts P, Vermeire S, Van Assche G. Biological therapies for inflammatory bowel diseases. Gastroenterology 2009;136:1182-1197.
True or False
1. Single dose infliximab is effective in reducing colectomy rates for patients with severe acute ulcerative colitis not responsive to high dose glucocorticoids
2. Infliximab + azathioprine is more effective than infliximab alone in inducing steroid-free remission in patients who have never been treated with azathioprine.
3. Methotrexate is synergistic with infliximab for induction of remission
4. The preferred strategy for a patient who loses response to an anti-TNF agent is to move to natalizumab.
5. Rosiglitazone should be avoided in patients with active ulcerative colitis
6. Natalizumab is a gut-specific selective adhesion molecule inhibitor
7. Infliximab + azathioprine is better than infliximab alone for patients that failed to achieve a remission on azathioprine
8. Infliximab has been shown to be an effective strategy for managing patients that lose response to adalimumab
9. Natalizumab appears to work better in patients with elevated CRP