Abstracts
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2000. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 15, 2000; 6(Suppl3): 7-7
Published online Sep 15, 2000. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v6.iSuppl3.7
Current medical therapy of inflammatory bowel disease
Kiron M Das, Sherif A Farag
Kiron M Das, Sherif A Farag, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Crohn’s and Colitis Center of New Jersey, UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, Germany
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Kiron M Das, MD, PhD, Cheif, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Crohn’s and Colitis Center of New Jersey, UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, Germany
Telephone: 732-2357784 Fax: 732-2357792
Received: June 24, 2000
Revised: July 5, 2000
Accepted: July 10, 2000
Published online: September 15, 2000
Abstract

The current established drugs used to treat inflammatory bowel disease include glucocorticoids including newer agent budesonide, sulfasalazine and 5-ASA compounds such as Asacol, Pentasa, Dipentum and Balsalazide and immunomodulatory agents such as azathioprine, and 6-mercaptopurine. Additional drugs which have been found to be useful, particularly in refractory cases of Crohn’s disease including fistulizing type of Crohn’s disease, include cyclosporine A, methotrexate, humanized antibody against TNF-α (cA2), FK506, IL-10, IL-11 and Probiotics. Various agents, whether used alone or in combination, have to be tailored for each patient and none is ideal. Exciting new developments directed against proinflammatory pathways, cytokines, free oxygen radicals and cell surface related immune targets are areas of intense recent investigations and many novel therapeutic agents are expected to be available in the near future for medical treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease; Medical therapy; Glucocorticoids; Budesonide; Sulfasalazine; Crohn’s disease