Gut Liver.  2012 Oct;6(4):427-433.

Adsorptive Granulocyte/Monocyte Apheresis for the Maintenance of Remission in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: A Prospective Randomized, Double Blind, Sham-Controlled Clinical Trial

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Lower Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan. kazuko@hyo-med.ac.jp
  • 2Division of Upper Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Weekly granulocyte/monocyte adsorption (GMA) to deplete elevated and activated leucocytes should serve as a non-pharmacological intervention to induce remission in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). This trial assessed the efficacy of monthly GMA as a maintenance therapy to suppress UC relapse.
METHODS
Thirty-three corticosteroid refractory patients with active UC received 10 weekly GMA sessions as a remission induction therapy. They were then randomized to receive one GMA session every 4 weeks (True, n=11), extracorporeal circulation without the GMA column every 4 weeks (Sham, n=11), or no additional intervention (Control, n=11). The primary endpoint was the rate of avoiding relapse (AR) over 48 weeks.
RESULTS
At week 48, the AR rates in the True, Sham, and Control groups were 40.0%, 9.1%, and 18.2%, respectively. All patients were steroid-free, but no statistically significant difference was seen among the three arms. However, in patients who could taper their prednisolone dose to <20 mg/day during the remission induction therapy, the AR in the True group was better than in the Sham (p<0.03) or Control (p<0.05) groups.
CONCLUSIONS
Monthly GMA may potentially prevent UC relapse in patients who have achieved remission through weekly GMA, especially in patients on <20 mg/day PSL at the start of the maintenance therapy.

Keyword

Granulocyte monocyte apheresis; Inflammatory bowel diseases; Maintenance treatment; Randomized controlled trial; Ulcerative colitis

MeSH Terms

Adsorption
Arm
Blood Component Removal
Colitis, Ulcerative
Extracorporeal Circulation
Humans
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Prednisolone
Prospective Studies
Recurrence
Remission Induction
Salicylamides
Ulcer
Prednisolone
Salicylamides
Full Text Links
  • GNL
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr