Background: Phase III trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis (UC), but few real-world data are currently available.Aim: To assess short-term effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab in patients with UC.Methods: From January to September 2019, all patients with UC treated with ustekinumab in 20 French GETAID centres were retrospectively included. The primary outcome was steroid-free clinical remission (partial Mayo Clinic score ≤2) at weeks 12-16 without a rectal bleeding subscore >1.Results: Among the 103 patients included, 70% had been previously exposed to ≥2 anti-TNF agents and 85% to vedolizumab. At weeks 12-16, steroid-free clinical remission and clinical remission rates were 35.0% and 39.8% respectively; the absence of rectal bleeding with normal stool frequency was noted in 19.4% of patients. Two patients discontinued ustekinumab before the week 12-16 visit and underwent surgery. In multivariable analysis, a partial Mayo Clinic score >6 at inclusion (18.6% vs 46.7%, P = 0.003) and a history of both exposure to anti-TNF and vedolizumab therapies (27.3% vs 80.0%, P = 0.001) were negatively associated with steroid-free clinical remission at weeks 12-16. Adverse events occurred in 7.8% of patients and serious adverse events in 3.9% of patients. Conclusion:In a cohort of highly refractory patients with UC with multiple prior drug failures, ustekinumab provided steroid-free clinical remission in one-third of cases at weeks 12-16. Clinical severity and previous use of anti-TNF and vedolizumab therapies were associated with ustekinumab failure at weeks 12-16.

Vedolizumab therapy is commonly associated with improvement in EIM. This was associated with quiescent IBD and recent EIM. However, paradoxical skin manifestation and inflammatory arthralgia/arthritis may occur upon vedolizumab therapy.

Summary Background Ustekinumab is effective in Crohn's disease. However, a substantial proportion of patients will not respond or lose response to ustekinumab. The current evidence to support the effectiveness of dose‐optimisation for ustekinumab nonresponse is limited. Aim To assess the effectiveness of dose escalation of ustekinumab. Methods This was a multicentre retrospective cohort study. We included active Crohn's disease patients who received a standard‐dose intravenous induction and at least one subcutaneous ustekinumab 90 mg dose. All enrolled patients received dose escalation by either shortening the interval between the doses to every 4 or 6 weeks, intravenous reinduction or a combination of strategies. The primary outcome of the study was clinical response at week 16 after dose escalation. Results A total of 142 patients (22 centres/14 countries) were included. The patients were dose‐escalated after a median treatment duration of 30 weeks. At week 16 from escalation, 73/142 (51.4%) responded to treatment, including 55/142 (38.7%) in clinical remission. Corticosteroid‐free remission was achieved in 6/34 (17.6%) patients on corticosteroids at the time of escalation; 118/142 (83%) continued treatment beyond week 16. Follow‐up data beyond week 16 were available for 74/118 (62.7%) patients. On the last follow‐up, 51/98 (52%) patients with available data responded to treatment, including 41/98 (42%) in clinical remission. Conclusions Intensification of ustekinumab maintenance dosage was effective in over 50% of the patients. This strategy should be considered in patients who are nonresponsive to every 8 weeks ustekinumab maintenance dosing.

Summary Background Phase III trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in ulcerative colitis (UC), but few real‐life long‐term data are currently available. Aims To assess the real‐world effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab in patients with UC. Methods From January to September 2019, all consecutive patients with active UC treated with ustekinumab in a GETAID centre were included. Patients were evaluated at week 52. Remission was defined as a partial Mayo Clinic score ≤2. Results We included 103 patients with UC (62 men; mean age: 41.2 ± 16.2 years; 52% pancolitis E3) with an insufficient response to immunosuppressants, anti‐TNFs and/or vedolizumab. At week 52, 45 (44%) patients had discontinued ustekinumab mainly due to lack of effectiveness (n = 41). The cumulative probabilities of ustekinumab persistence were 96.1%, 81.6%, 71.7% and 58.4% after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months respectively. The overall steroid‐free clinical remission rate at week 52 was 32% of whom 71% had subscores of null for rectal bleeding and stool frequency. Ten patients underwent colectomy within a median of 6.7 [4.3‐10.6] months. Adverse effects were observed in 15 (16.9%) patients; 4 (4.5%) were severe, including one patient who died from a myocardial infarction. Conclusion After 52 weeks, over one‐half of patients with refractory UC were still treated by ustekinumab and one‐third were in steroid‐free clinical remission.

Introduction The approved maintenance regimens for ustekinumab in Crohn’s disease (CD) are 90 mg every 8 or 12 weeks. Some patients will partially respond to ustekinumab or will experience a secondary loss of response. It remains poorly known if these patients may benefit from shortening the interval between injections Methods All patients with active CD, as defined by Harvey-Bradshaw score ≥ 4 and one objective sign of inflammation (CRP > 5 mg/L and/or fecal calprotectin > 250 µg/g and/or radiologic and/or endoscopic evidence of disease activity) who required ustekinumab dose escalation to 90mg every 4 weeks for loss of response or incomplete response to ustekinumab 90mg every 8 weeks were included in this retrospective multicenter cohort study. Results One hundred patients, with a median age of 35 years (Interquartile Range (IQR), 28 – 49) and median disease duration of 12 (7 – 20) years were included. Dose intensification was performed after a median of 5.0 (2.8 - 9.0) months of ustekinumab treatment and was associated with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants in respectively 29% and 27% of cases. Short-term clinical response and clinical remission were observed in respectively 61% and 31% after a median of 2.4 (1.3 - 3.0) months. After a median follow-up of 8.2 (5.6-12.4) months, 61% of patients were still treated with ustekinumab, and 26% in steroid-free clinical remission. Among the 39 patients with colonoscopy during follow-up, 14 achieved endoscopic remission (no ulcers). At the end of follow-up, 27% of patients were hospitalized, and 19% underwent intestinal resection surgery. Adverse events were reported in 12% of patients, including five serious adverse events. Conclusion In this multicenter study, two-thirds of patients recaptured response following treatment intensification with ustekinumab 90 mg every 4 weeks.

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Background and Aims Thrombin levels in the colon of Crohn’s disease patients have recently been found to be elevated 100-fold compared to healthy controls. Our aim was to determine whether and how dysregulated thrombin activity could contribute to local tissue malfunctions associated with Crohn’s disease. Methods Thrombin activity was studied in tissues from Crohn’s disease patients and healthy controls. Intracolonic administration of thrombin to wild-type or protease-activated receptor-deficient mice was used to assess the effects and mechanisms of local thrombin upregulation. Colitis was induced in rats and mice by the intracolonic administration of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid. Results Active forms of thrombin were increased in Crohn’s disease patient tissues. Elevated thrombin expression and activity were associated with intestinal epithelial cells. Increased thrombin activity and expression were also a feature of experimental colitis in rats. Colonic exposure to doses of active thrombin comparable to what is found in inflammatory bowel disease tissues caused mucosal damage and tissue dysfunctions in mice, through a mechanism involving both Protease-Activated Receptors-1 and -4. Intracolonic administration of the thrombin inhibitor Dabigatran, as well as inhibition of protease-activated receptor-1, prevented trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis in rodent models. Conclusions Our data demonstrated that increased local thrombin activity, as it occurs in the colon of patients with inflammatory bowel disease, causes mucosal damage and inflammation. Colonic thrombin and protease-activated receptor-1 appear as possible mechanisms involved in mucosal damage and loss of function and therefore represent potential therapeutic targets for treating inflammatory bowel disease.

Introduction The inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-disk is a 10-item self-questionnaire that is used to assess IBD-related disability. The aim of the present study was to evaluate this tool in the assessment of IBD daily-life burden. Patients and methods A one-week cross-sectional study was conducted in 42 centres affiliated in France and Belgium. Patients were asked to complete the IBD-disk (best score: 0, worst score: 100) and a visual analogue scale (VAS) of IBD daily-life burden (best score: 0, worst score: 10). Analyses included internal consistency, correlation analysis and diagnostic performance assessment. Results Among the 2011 IBD outpatients who responded to the survey (67.8% of the patients had Crohn’s disease), 49.9% were in clinical remission. The IBD-disk completion rate was 73.8%. The final analysis was conducted in this population (n= 1455 patients). The mean IBD-disk score and IBD daily-life burden VAS were 39.0 ± 23.2 and 5.2 ± 2.9, respectively. The IBD-disk score was well-correlated with the IBD daily-life burden VAS (r=0.67; p<0.001). At an optimal IBD-disk cut-off of 40, the area under ROC curve (AUROC) for high IBD daily-life burden (VAS>5) was 0.81 (CI95%: 0.79-0.83; p<0.001). Conclusion In a large cohort of patients, the IBD-disk score was well correlated with IBD daily-life burden, and it could be used in clinical practice.