New Therapy for Children with Crohn's Disease

A study has demonstrated that children with severe Crohn's disease showed significant improvement and were able to decrease steroid usage within four weeks of infusion of a new biologic therapy, called infliximab. Conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, USA), the study was reported in the November issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

The study involved 15 children with severe Crohn's disease, who were treated with infliximab and followed over the next 12 months. Within four weeks of starting the new therapy, 94% achieved significant decreases in disease activity. At ten weeks, 67% were in complete remission. Infliximab (Remicade) is a monoclonal antibody drug that blocks a key biologic response mediator called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). The drug is believed to rapidly reduce inflammation by binding to and neutralizing TNF-alpha on cell membranes as well as in blood and tissues.

"Early use of infliximab in steroid-dependent children may enable pediatricians to titrate patients off steroids more quickly and may represent an optimal approach that is fast, effective, and, especially important in pediatric cases, less prone to significant adverse effects,” explained Subra Kugathasan, M.D., lead investigator and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Medical College.