The treatment principles and targets for intestinal Behcet’s disease

Abstract

Behcet’s disease (BD) is a chronic and recurrent systemic vasculitis involving large, medium and small blood vessels as well as arteries and veins. BD with predominant gastrointestinal manifestations is diagnosed as intestinal BD, which is associated with severe complications such as massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage, perforation, and obstruction. Recently, treat-to-target (T2T) strategies have been successfully used in many chronic diseases and been suggested in the management of BD, while there are no related reviews about the global treatment strategy including treatment principles and targets for intestinal BD in detail. Herein, we review the treatment principles from the aspects of departments of Rheumatology and Gastroenterology. In addition, treatment targets of intestinal BD are reviewed from three aspects such as evaluable markers, effective markers and potency-ratio markers. Some definitions and conceptions from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) bring us reference and enlightenments.

Intestinal Behcet’s Disease: A Review of the Immune Mechanism and Present and Potential Biological Agents

“…The key points of intestinal BD treatment focus on the suppression of inflammatory exacerbations and the prevention of recurrences. As for intestinal BD, mucosal healing tends to have a better prognosis after the remission of clinical symptoms and normalization of Creactive protein (CRP) [63]. Biological agents are an emerging category of pharmaceuticals for various diseases, including inflammatory diseases and cancers, in recent decades.…”