Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Ulcerative colitis

Steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis—ciclosporin or infliximab?

Ciclosporin and infliximab are used as rescue therapies for the treatment of severe steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis. Now, an open-label, head-to-head randomized controlled trial has demonstrated that these drugs are well-tolerated and have equivalent efficacy in inducing short-term clinical response, mucosal healing and decreasing colectomy rates at 3 months.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Truelove, S. C. & Jewell, D. P. Intensive intravenous regimen for severe attacks of ulcerative colitis. Lancet 1, 1067–1070 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Laharie, D. et al. Ciclosporin versus infliximab in patients with severe ulcerative colitis refractory to intravenous steroids: a parallel, open-label randomised controlled trial. Lancet http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61084-8.

  3. Lichtiger, S. et al. Cyclosporine in severe ulcerative colitis refractory to steroid therapy. N. Engl. J. Med. 330, 1841–1845 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Actis, G. C. et al. Colectomy rate in steroid-refractory colitis initially responsive to cyclosporin: a long-term retrospective cohort study. BMC Gastroenterol. 7, 13 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Moskovitz, D. N. et al. Incidence of colectomy during long-term follow-up after cyclosporine-induced remission of severe ulcerative colitis. Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 4, 760–765 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sands, B. E. et al. Infliximab in the treatment of severe, steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis: a pilot study. Inflamm. Bowel Dis. 7, 83–88 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Probert, C. S. et al. Infliximab in moderately severe glucocorticoid resistant ulcerative colitis: a randomised controlled trial. Gut 52, 998–1002 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Jarnerot, G. et al. Infliximab as rescue therapy in severe to moderately severe ulcerative colitis: a randomized, placebo-controlled study. Gastroenterology 128, 1805–1811 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Rutgeerts, P. et al. Infliximab for induction and maintenance therapy for ulcerative colitis. N. Engl. J. Med. 353, 2462–2476 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Rowe, F. A. et al. Factors predictive of response to cyclosporin treatment for severe, steroid-resistant ulcerative colitis. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 95, 2000–2008 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manreet Kaur.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kaur, M., Targan, S. Steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis—ciclosporin or infliximab?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 10, 8–9 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.235

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.235

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing