The objective of this study was to assess the association between serological markers and changes of the intestinal mucosa in children with celiac disease (CD).
Clinical data from CD patients under ...15 years old were collected from the participating centers in an on-line multicenter nationwide observational Spanish registry called REPAC-2 (2011-2017). Correlation between anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (t-TGA) levels and other variables, including mucosal damage and clinical findings (symptoms, age, and gender), was assessed.
A total of 2955 of 4838 patients had t-TGA and a small bowel biopsy (SBB) performed for CD diagnosis. A total of 1931 (66.2%) patients with normal IgA values had a Marsh 3b-c lesion and 1892 (64.9%) had t-TGA Immunoglobulin A (IgA) ≥ 10 times upper limit of normal (ULN). There is a statistically significant association between t-TGA IgA levels and the degree of mucosal damage ( P < 0.001), the higher the t-TGA IgA levels the more severe the mucosal damage. Those patients who reported symptoms had more severe mucosal damage ( P = 0.001). On the contrary, there was a negative association between age and changes of the intestinal mucosa ( P < 0.001). No association was found with gender. Regarding the IgA-deficient patients, 47.4% (18 cases) had t-TGA Immunoglobulin A (IgA) ≥ 10 times ULN and a Marsh 3b-c lesion was observed in 68.4% (26 patients). No statistical relation was found between t-TGA IgG levels and the changes of the intestinal mucosa, neither a relation with age, gender, or symptoms.
There is a positive correlation between t-TGA IgA levels and the severity of changes of the intestinal mucosa. Such correlation was not found in IgA-deficient patients who had positive t-TGA IgG serology. The results in this group of patients support the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition recommendations about the need of performing a SBB in IgA-deficient individuals despite high t-TGA IgG levels.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is more complex in children and they will have to live with the disease for much longer. For this reason, it is necessary to optimize treatment. The polymorphisms ...associated with the response to anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) drugs in adults with IBD have not been analyzed in children. The aim of the study was to identify genetic variants associated with the long-term response to anti-TNF drugs in children with IBD.
An observational, longitudinal, ambispective cohort's study was conducted. We recruited 209 anti-TNF-treated children diagnosed with IBD and genotyped 21 polymorphisms previously studied in adults with Crohn disease (CD) using real-time PCR. The association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and time-to-failure was analyzed using the log-rank test.
After multivariate analysis, 3 SNPs in IL10, IL17A and IL6 were significantly associated with response to anti-TNF treatment among patients diagnosed with CD (rs1800872-HR, 4.749 (95% confidence interval CI 1.156-19.517), P value < 0.05; rs2275913-HR, 0.320 95% CI 0.111-0.920, P value < 0.05; and rs10499563-HR, 0.210 95% CI 0.047-0.947, P value 0.05, respectively). None of these SNPs were associated with response to infliximab in adults diagnosed with CD. Among patients diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC), 1 SNP in LY96 was significantly associated with response to anti-TNF treatment (rs-11465996-HR, 10.220 95% CI 1.849-56.504 P value < 0.05).
Genotyping of these DNA variants before starting treatment may help to identify children who are long-term responders to anti-TNF drugs, and thus tailor treatment of pediatric IBD.
Changes in gene expression profiles among individuals with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) could potentially influence the responsiveness to anti-TNF treatment. The aim of this study was to ...identify genes that could serve as predictors of early response to anti-TNF therapies in pediatric IBD patients prior to the initiation of treatment.
We conducted a prospective, longitudinal, and multicenter study, enrolling 24 pediatric IBD patients aged less than 18 years who were initiating treatment with either infliximab or adalimumab. RNA-seq from blood samples was analyzed using the DESeq2 library by comparing responders and non-responders to anti-TNF drugs.
Bioinformatic analyses unveiled 102 differentially expressed genes, with 99 genes exhibiting higher expression in responders compared to non-responders prior to the initiation of anti-TNF therapy. Functional enrichment analyses highlighted defense response to Gram-negative bacteria (FDR = 2.3 ×10–7) as the most significant biological processes, and hemoglobin binding (FDR = 0.002), as the most significant molecular function. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed notable enrichment in transcriptional misregulation in cancer (FDR = 0.016). Notably, 13 genes (CEACAM8, CEACAM6, CILP2, COL17A1, OLFM4, INHBA, LCN2, LTF, MMP8, DEFA4, PRTN3, AZU1, and ELANE) were selected for validation, and a consistent trend of increased expression in responders prior to drug administration was observed for most of these genes, with findings for 4 of them being statistically significant (CEACAM8, LCN2, LTF2, and PRTN3).
We identified 102 differentially expressed genes involved in the response to anti-TNF drugs in children with IBDs and validated CEACAM8, LCN2, LTF2, and PRTN3. Genes participating in defense response to Gram-negative bacterium, serine-type endopeptidase activity, and transcriptional misregulation in cancer are good candidates for anticipating the response to anti-TNF drugs in children with IBDs.
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•Baseline gene expression in blood associates with the response to anti-TNF drugs.•RNA-seq identified 102 genes associated with the response to anti-TNF drugs.•PRTN3, LTF, LCN, and CEACAM8 are overexpressed in responder children.•Cancer-related genes impact the response to anti-TNF drugs.•Overexpressed genes in responder children directly link to TNF processes.
To assess the short- and long-term efficacy of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy for pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in real-world practice with a step-down strategy, and to evaluate ...factors predictive of PPI responsiveness.
We collected data regarding the efficacy of PPIs during this cross-sectional analysis of the prospective nationwide RENESE registry. Children with EoE treated with PPI monotherapy were included. Histological remission was defined as a peak eosinophilic count of <15 eosinophils (eos)/high-power field (hpf). Factors associated with PPI responsiveness were identified using multivariate logistic regression analysis.
After induction therapy, histological and clinico-histological remission were observed in 51.4% (n = 346) and 46.5% of children, respectively. Normal endoscopic appearance of the esophagus was associated with a higher possibility odds ratio (OR), 9.20; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.10-40.16, and fibrostenotic phenotype was associated with a lower possibility (OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.18-0.74) of histological remission. Long-term therapy with a step-down strategy effectively maintained histological remission in 68.5% and 85.3% of children at 7 months (n = 108) and 16 months (n = 34), respectively. Complete initial histological remission (≤5 eos/hpf) was associated with a higher possibility of sustained histological remission (OR, 5.08; 95% CI, 1.75-14.68). Adverse events were infrequent and mild.
We confirmed the efficacy of PPIs for a large cohort of children with EoE with sustained histological remission using a step-down strategy. Children with fibrostenotic phenotypes are less likely to respond to induction therapy. Furthermore, patients with complete initial histological remission are more likely to experience long-term histological remission.
Vedolizumab is a humanised monoclonal antibody that binds to integrin α4β7 expressed in T-cells, inhibiting its binding to the mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1 (MAdCAM-1), which is ...specifically expressed in the small intestine and colon, playing a fundamental role in T-cell migration to the gastrointestinal tract. Vedolizumab has been shown to be effective in treating adults with inflammatory bowel disease; however, efficacy data for paediatric use are scarce. The objective of the present study was to assess the effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab for inducing and maintaining clinical remission in children with inflammatory bowel disease. We conducted a retrospective multicentre study of patients younger than 18 years with inflammatory bowel disease refractory to anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNF-α) drugs, who underwent treatment with vedolizumab. Clinical remission was defined as a score < 10 points in the activity indices. We included 42 patients, 22 of whom were male (52.3%), with a median age of 13.1 years (IQR 10.2–14.2) at the start of treatment. Of the 42 patients, 14 (33.3%) had Crohn’s disease (CD) and 28 (66.7%) had ulcerative colitis (UC). At the start of treatment with vedolizumab, the Paediatric Crohn’s Disease Activity Index was 36 (IQR 24–40) and the Paediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index was 47 (IQR 25–65). All of them had received prior treatment with anti-TNF and 3 patients ustekinumab. At week 14, 69% of the patients responded to the treatment (57.1% of those with CD and 75% of those with UC;
p
=0.238), and 52.4% achieved remission (35.7% with CD and 60.7% with UC;
p
=0.126). At 30 weeks, the response rate was 66.7% (46.2% and 78.3% for CD and UC, respectively;
p
=0.049), and 52.8% achieved remission (30.8% and 65.2% for CD and UC, respectively;
p
=0.047). Among the patients with remission at week 14, 80% of the patients with CD and 84.5% of those with UC maintained the remission at 52 weeks. Adverse effects were uncommon and mild. Three patients (7.1%) presented headaches, 1 presented alopecia, 1 presented anaemia and 1 presented dermatitis.
Conclusion
: The results show that treatment with vedolizumab is a safe and effective option for achieving clinical remission in paediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease with primary failure or loss of response to other treatments, especially in UC.
What is Known:
• Vedolizumab is effective in inducing and maintaining remission in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
• Most studies and clinical trials have been performed on adult populations, and there is currently no indication for paediatric populations.
What is New:
• Children with inflammatory bowel disease refractory to anti-TNF presented higher clinical remission rates than those published for adults.
• There are few publications of this magnitude on paediatric populations treated with vedolizumab and with long-term follow-up (52 weeks).
The genetic polymorphisms rs2395185 and rs2097432 in HLA genes have been associated with the response to anti-TNF treatment in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim was to analyze the association ...between these variants and the long-term response to anti-TNF drugs in pediatric IBD. We performed an observational, multicenter, ambispective study in which we selected 340 IBD patients under 18 years of age diagnosed with IBD and treated with anti-TNF drugs from a network of Spanish hospitals. Genotypes and failure of anti-TNF drugs were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox logistic regression. The homozygous G allele of rs2395185 and the C allele of rs2097432 were associated with impaired long-term response to anti-TNF drugs in children with IBD after 3 and 9 years of follow-up. Being a carrier of both polymorphisms increased the risk of anti-TNF failure. The SNP rs2395185 but not rs2097432 was associated with response to infliximab in adults with CD treated with infliximab but not in children after 3 or 9 years of follow-up. Conclusions: SNPs rs2395185 and rs2097432 were associated with a long-term response to anti-TNFs in IBD in Spanish children. Differences between adults and children were observed in patients diagnosed with CD and treated with infliximab.