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Background The safety of ustekinumab in pregnant patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in their offspring has been barely studied. Aims Primary: To know the risk of serious adverse events (SAEs) in women exposed to ustekinumab during pregnancy and in their offspring. Secondary: To assess the risk of complications of the mothers and their offspring. To describe the patterns of use of ustekinumab during pregnancy in these patients Methods Patients with IBD exposed to ustekinumab during pregnancy from DUMBO registry of GETECCU were included. DUMBO is a prospective, observational and multicentre registry, which enrols pregnant women with IBD over 5 years in 70 centres in Spain. The registry was kicked off in September 2019. SAE definition was based on “Clinical Safety Data Management: Definitions and Standards for Expedited Reporting by European Medicines Agency”. Study protocol is summarized in figure 1. Results 49 pregnant patients have been exposed to ustekinumab during pregnancy so far (table 1). All pregnancies were singleton. Two patients were lost of follow-up (1st and 2nd trimester) but had uneventful pregnancies up-to last visit. There were 2 miscarriages (4%) at 1st trimester of gestation, 34 newborns and 11 pregnancies that were still on-going at the time of this analysis. All patients were on ustekinumab at conception (57% of them 90 mg/8 weeks). A total of 12 patients (24%) withdrawn ustekinumab during pregnancy: 1 (8%) due to disease flare, 1 (8%) underwent surgery due to intestinal obstruction, 2 (17%) due to patient’s choice (at 1st and 2nd trimester), and 8 (67%) due to clinicians’ decision (1 at 1st, 5 at 2nd and 2 at 3rd trimesters). No patient flared up after ustekinumab discontinuation. 10 (20%) patients had SAEs: 2 miscarriages, 1 intestinal infection, 1 subcorionic hematoma, 3 preterm birth, 1 intestinal obstruction and perforation (underwent surgery), 1 preeclapmsia, and 1 stoma obstruction. A total of 34 women gave birth after a median of 39 weeks gestation [interquartile range (IQR)=38–40], 3 (9%) preterm births, 55% by caesarean section (82% obstetric reasons and 18% perianal fistulae). Of the 34 newborns, 53% were female, median birth weight was 3,110 g (IQR=2,820–3,325), 3 (9%) low-birth weight, and 50% were breastfed exclusively. Median babies’ follow-up was 12 months (IQR=7–16). During follow-up, 3 children (9%) had severe infections (2 urinary infections, and 1 bronchiolitis by respiratory syncytial virus). In addition, 4 (13%) children were hospitalized: 1 cardiorespiratory arrest, 1 prematurity, 1 jaundice, and 1 vesicoureteral reflux Conclusion Ustekinumab seems to be safe during pregnancy in patients with IBD and their offspring.

Background Vedolizumab is one of the current treatments for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The efficacy and safety, along with its gut specificity, make this drug an appealing therapeutic option for IBD patients with moderate to severe disease. However, as observed for other biologic treatments, a significant proportion of patients do not have an initial response to vedolizumab treatment. Currently, there is a lack of reliable predictive tools for vedolizumab treatment response, although this would help to alleviate the socioeconomic costs derived from this disease. For that reason, the primary aim of this study is to show putative transcriptional signatures associated with vedolizumab treatment response. Methods For the realization of this study, we used RNA-seq datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database: GSE191328. This dataset includes samples from peripheral blood cells from responder and non-responder ulcerative colitis (UC) patients treated with vedolizumab and infliximab at baseline. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to compare the differential expression and the enrichment analysis was calculated using ssGSEA of the different groups under study. Results The analysis of the transcriptome of peripheral blood cells from responder (R) and non-responder (NR) vedolizumab-treated patients at baseline revealed interesting enrichment results. We found 20 gene sets positively enriched in NR versus R and only 9 gene sets negatively enriched in the same phenotypes. In order to find vedolizumab specific transcriptional signatures, we performed a similar analysis in samples from infliximab-treated patients. After that second round of analysis, we observed that around 50% of the enriched gene sets were similar for both biological treatments. Nevertheless, several interesting biological functions such as peroxisome function, reactive oxygen function or beta-catenin signalling are specifically enriched in NR patients to vedolizumab treatment. Conclusion Our data suggest that vedolizumab NR patients specifically show a transcriptional enrichment profile, which differs from vedolizumab R patients. Also, the comparative analysis with infliximab-treated patients reveals that those specific transcripts are modulated in response to this α4β7 integrin antibodies in peripheral blood cells. Therefore, we found a solid system to search for vedolizumab therapy predictive response markers using low invasive techniques.

Resumen La colestasis se define como la dificultad u obstruccion, total o parcial, del flujo biliar entre el hepatocito y el duodeno. En funcion de la localizacion de la alteracion se distingue entre colestasis intrahepatica o extrahepatica. La anamnesis y la exploracion fisica son herramientas fundamentales para optimizar el enfoque diagnostico de la etiologia de la colestasis, siendo la ecografia abdominal la primera prueba complementaria a realizar. En caso de que esta sea normal, se deben sospechar entidades que ocasionen colestasis intrahepatica y dirigir el proceso diagnostico hacia ellas a traves de estudios serologicos (autoanticuerpos, metales, serologias viricas), otras pruebas de imagen y, si es necesario, la biopsia hepatica. Si la ecografia abdominal muestra dilatacion de la via biliar sin identificar una causa obstructiva, debe completarse el estudio con otras pruebas de imagen con mayor precision diagnostica como la ecoendoscopia o la colangiorresonancia. Cholestasis is defined as difficulty or an obstruction (total or partial) of the biliary flow between the hepatocyte and duodenum. Depending on the location of the abnormality, the condition is differentiated into intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholestasis. Anamnesis and the physical examination are essential tools for optimising the diagnostic approach to the aetiology of cholestasis, with abdominal ultrasonography the first complementary test to perform. If the results of the ultrasound are normal, entities that cause intrahepatic cholestasis should be suspected, and the diagnostic process should be directed towards them through serological studies (autoantibodies, metals, viral serology), other imaging tests and, if necessary, liver biopsy. If the abdominal ultrasound reveals bile duct dilation without identifying an obstructive cause, the study should be completed with other imaging tests with greater diagnostic accuracy such as endoscopic ultrasonography and cholangioresonance.

Background Prospective registries are necessary to evaluate the safety of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment during pregnancy and in children in the long term. Aims The overall aim of DUMBO registry is to know the risk of serious adverse events (SAEs) during pregnancy and in children up to 4 years of age exposed during pregnancy to drugs for IBD (mainly focused on biologics), compared to unexposed children. In this analysis we aim to evaluate the risk of SAEs during pregnancy and the predictive factors of it (mainly focused on IBD drugs). Methods Prospective, observational and multicentre registry, which enrols pregnant women with IBD (Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, IBD-unclassified) over 5 years in 70 centres in Spain. The registry was kicked off in September 2019. SAE was defined based on “Clinical Safety Data Management: Definitions and Standards for Expedited Reporting by European Medicines Agency”. Study protocol is summarized in figure 1. Results 433 women have been included so far; 241 got pregnant at least 9 months before this interim analysis (table 1). Mean age was 34 years, and 17% of women had active disease at any time during pregnancy. 23% of pregnancies were exposed to immumodulators (thiopurines), 25% to biologics and 10% to combo therapy (biologics and immunomodulators). 85 pregnancies (35%) were exposed to biologics (60 anti-TNF, 17 ustekinumab, and 8 vedolizumab) either in combo or in monotherapy. There were 237 newborns (227 singleton and 5 pair of twins), 9 miscarriages and 1 abortion. 72% of patients had vaginal delivery and 28% C-sections (18% due to perianal CD or active disease). A total of 59 pregnancies (24.5%) reported at least one SAE: 32% in exposed to biologics and 20.5% in non-exposed group (p>0.05) (figure 2). Four out of 17 pregnancies exposed to ustekinumab and 3 out of 8 exposed to vedolizumab had SAEs (non-related with the drug). In the multivariate analysis, adjusted by disease activity, in comparison with no immunosuppressive treatment, neither immunosuppressants [Odds ratio (OR)=1.1, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.3–4.3] nor biologics in monotherapy or in combo (OR=0.8; 95%CI=0.2–3) were associated with higher risk of SAEs. 40 patients (17%) were hospitalised due to complications during pregnancy or delivery (figure 3). Two patients underwent surgery during pregnancy due to IBD complications Conclusion IBD treatment (either immunomodulators or biologics) does not increase the risk of SAEs during pregnancy. Nevertheless, one-quarter of IBD women suffer SAEs during pregnancy and about 20% need hospitalisation, which should be taken into account when managing IBD during pregnancy.

Background The most feared adverse events related to biological treatment in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are the development of tumors and / or serious infections. These events are generally more frequent in elderly patients, so the increased use of biological drugs in these patients today makes it necessary to assess the safety of these drugs in this population. Methods Patients have been retrospectively included with established diagnosis of IBD at age, 65 at the time of initiating biological treatment(Infliximab, Adalimumab, Golimumab, Ustekinumab or Vedolizumab).Data regarding the development of oncological events during treatment have been collected. Variables related to infectious processes during biological treatment have also been included, documented by microbiological analysis and requiring systemic treatment and / or hospitalization(excluding bowel infection by CMV). Statistical analysis was performed with Stata, 15.0,categorical variables were compared with the chi2 test for proportions Results 1090 patients have been retrospectively included. Regarding the development of tumors, we observed an oncological event in, 74 (6.9%). They developed in, 30 patients (8%) with infliximab, 23 patients (7.1%) with adalimumab, 3 patients(11.1%) with golimumab, 10 patients (6.4%) with ustekinumab, and, 8 (3, 8%) vedolizumab. It was significantly lower(p = 0.04) for the vedolizumab group compared to other treatments, however, statistical significance was not reached for the ustekinumab group (p = 0.5)., 31% (23 patients) had an oncological history prior to the start of the biological treatment under study. The most frequently developed tumors were cutaneous, not melanocytic in, 10 patients, lung in, 10 patients and hematological tumors (7 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 3 acute leukemias and, 2 intestinal lymphomas), 7 bladder tumors, 5 prostate and, 4 colorectal carcinoma.Regarding the development of infections, these occurred in, 160 patients during biological treatment(14.9%), without differences between the different biological drugs used (p = 0.61): infliximab, 61,(19.4%), adalimumab, 39 (12.5%), golimumab, 5(17.8%), ustekinumab, 22(14.1%), and vedolizumab, 34 (16.5%).Likewise, 85 (53.1%) require hospitalization due to the infectious process and in, 51(31.9%), it is permanently suspended due to the infection.Until the end of the follow-up, 158 patients (36.4%) suspended the biological drug due to an adverse effect, with the time until suspension:, 1.47 years(mean); SD:1.6 Conclusion In our experience, the development of tumors is more frequent in patients who use anti-TNF compared to other targets, although its incidence is generally low. However, there are no differences in the development of infections between the different biological treatments.

Background Vedolizumab is one of the current treatments for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The efficacy and safety, together with its gut specificity, make this drug an appealing therapeutic option for IBD patients with moderate to severe disease. However, as observed for other biologic treatments, a significant proportion of patients do not have an initial response to vedolizumab treatment. Currently, there is a lack of reliable biomarkers for vedolizumab treatment response, although this would help to palliate the socioeconomic costs derived from this disease. For that reason, the primary aim of this study is to establish the basis for the search of transcriptional factors associated with vedolizumab treatment response. Methods For the realization of this study, we collected blood samples from responder and non-responder Ulcerative Colitis (UC) patients treated with vedolizumab. The clinical response was measured using the Partial Mayo Score. The frequencies of different immune system populations were analysed by flow cytometry. Moreover, we measured the transcriptional levels of several genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by RT-qPCR. These experimental procedures were performed at baseline (T0) and after 14 weeks of follow-up (T14). Results We enrolled nine patients with an average age of 46.25±11.71, of which seven were previously treated with anti-TNF therapy. Our results show a specific pattern in responder and non-responder patients in the percentages of different innate and adaptive immune cell populations at T0 versus T14. Similarly, we observed a significant reduction in the expression of some chemokines (i.e., CCL25) and pro-resolutive factors (i.e., ANNEXIN A1) at T14 versus T0 in PBMCs from vedolizumab responder patients, which was not observed in non-responder patients. Conclusion Our data suggest that the frequencies of certain immune populations are associated with the response to vedolizumab treatment. In the same way, we found that specific transcripts are modulated in response to this α4β7 integrin antibodies in PBMCs. Therefore, we found a solid system to search for vedolizumab therapy response markers using low invasive techniques.

Background Biological drugs are being increasingly used for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in elderly patients. Despite the particular characteristics of this population subgroup, the efficacy and safety of these treatments in real clinical practice is poorly evaluated. Methods Retrospective and multicenter study of GETECCU, carried out in 28 Spanish hospitals. Patients with IBD who started biological treatment (Infliximab, Adalimumab, Golimumab, Ustekinumab or Vedolizumab) aged 65 years or older were included. Efficacy (clinical- at the criteria of the responsible physician-, biochemical and endoscopic) was assessed at 12-14 weeks and at 52 weeks of treatment. Adverse effects such as tumors or serious infections were also recorded. Results A total of 570 patients were included, baseline characteristics are shown in Table 1. Biologics used were: Infliximab (214, 37.5%), Adalimumab (167, 29.3%), Golimumab (16, 2.8%), Ustekinumab (73, 12.8%) and Vedolizumab (100, 17.5%). After 12-14 weeks of treatment, in 38.7% (220) of the cases clinical remission had been achieved and in 47.7% (270) there was clinical response without remission. However, 80 patients (13.9%) had no response, resulting in treatment discontinuation due to primary failure. At week 52, only 379 patients (66.5%) continued on biological treatment: 216 (57%) were in clinical remission (216, 57.0%) while 129 (34%) had response without remission and 34 (9%)had no response. In addition, 119 patients (21%) had an endoscopic study performed: 47 (39,5%) presented with endoscopic remission, 38 (31,9%) with mild activity, 28 (23,5%) with moderate activity and 6, (5.1%) with severe activity. At the end of the follow-up, only 60% of the patients continued on biological treatment, being the reason for withdraw lack of efficacy or due to the report of adverse side effects. Regarding treatment safety in this population, 12.1% (68 patients) suffered an infectious complication with a microbiological diagnosis, requiring hospitalization in 62.1% of the cases. In addition, 39 patients (6.9%) were diagnosed with a tumor until the end of the follow-up, noting that 34.2% of the cases continued on biological therapy after the diagnosis. Likewise, in 25 patients (36.8%) this infection forced discontinuation of biological treatment. Finally, 10 patients stopped biological treatment due to a serious adverse reaction to it Conclusion Response rates to biological treatment in elderly patients are similar to those described in the general population, with approximately one third of failures happening during the first year. However, a remarkable proportion of patients developed a serious adverse effect that could be related to treatment

Background Patients with colon Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) have a higher risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) than general population. Current guidelines establish endoscopic surveillance recommendations; however, epidemiological studies show poor compliance. The main aim of our study was to analyse adherence to endoscopic surveillance guidelines. Secondary aim was to evaluate the prevalence and time-to advanced lesions or CRC. Methods Retrospective multicentre study of patients with IBD followed-up in the participating centres between 2005 and 2020, who were diagnosed of IBD between 2005 and 2008, with criteria for CRC surveillance. Patients with CRC before IBD diagnosis were excluded. The ECCO 2013–2017 guidelines were used to evaluate adherence. Adenomatous lesions with >25% of villous component, >1cm or with high-grade dysplasia or serrated lesions >1cm or with any degree of dysplasia were considered advanced lesions. Software used for all analysis was R in its 3.6.1 version. Normality was checked with the Shapiro-Wilks test. Mean comparison was carried out using t-Student test while normality assumptions held true, otherwise, Mann-Whitney test. Time-to advanced lesions or CRC event between patients that had adherence to ECCO guidelines versus those who did not was performed through Kaplan-Meier and Log-rank test. P-values below 0.05 were considered significant. Results A total of 1004 (713 Ulcerative Colitis, 252 Crohn’s disease and 39 Indeterminate Colitis; 52% male) patients from 25 centres were recruited with a median age of 36 (26–47) years. 87% of all patients were included in the endoscopic surveillance programme. The main reasons for non-inclusion were the absence of indication by the physician (38%) and the presence of inflammatory activity (37%). Adherence to the first or subsequent surveillance colonoscopies was 45% and 61%, respectively, with a total adherence rate of 32%. Prevalence of advanced lesions or CRC was 4% and 7 cases of CRC were detected. Time-to-detection of these lesions since IBD diagnosis was significantly longer in non-adherent patients (13.4 + 1.3 vs13.04 + 1.7; p Conclusion Adherence to ECCO guidelines for endoscopic surveillance is low in this Southern European population. A higher and earlier detection of advanced lesions or CRC was identified in the adherent group. The results of this study highlight the need to improve compliance with the recommendations to obtain better outcomes.

Background The novel coronavirus emerged in 2019 in Wuhan has caused a global pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Immune-mediated diseases (IMID), as inflammatory arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), have some special implications due to their pathogenesis and treatments. Some treatments employed in IMID are now being used in the treatment of severe COVID-19. There still exists controversy about IMID behavior and its complications. Our aim was to assess COVID-19 severity in IMID patients and its prognosis predictors. Methods An observational retrospective multicenter study was performed in two Spanish Hospitals (University Clinical Hospital in Santiago de Compostela and Gregorio Marañón Hospital). Patients were selected if they were diagnosed of an IMID (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, espondyloarthritis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease) and had COVID-19 infection between February and April 2020. Demographic, clinical, analytical and treatment data were collected. Stata 15.1 was used to perform statistical analysis. Results 91 patients were included. 55 suffered from a rheumatic disease and 36 suffered IBD. Univariable analysis reached age, comorbidity, female gender, flu vaccine, arthropathy, basal csDMARD, pneumonia and basal CRP as potential predictors of non-severe (absence of death, respiratory insufficiency, intensive care unit admission or sepsis) COVID-19 disease (p < 0.2). After multivariable analysis, only female gender (OR 4.60 [CI95% 1.00, 21.2] p=0.050), lower age (OR 0.94 [CI95% 0.88, 1.00] p=0.042) and lower basal levels of CRP (OR 0.87 [CI95% 0.77, 0.97] p=0.010) were predictors for non-severe disease (p < 0.005). Mean time of healing (symptoms solved in outpatient and hospital discharge in admitted) from COVID-19 was 13.8 days (SD 16.3). Univariable analysis showed arthropathy, COVID-19 symptomatic and basal GC dose as potential predictors of higher time-to-healing from COVID-19 disease (p < 0.2). After multivariable analysis, only lower GC basal dose predicts higher time-to-healing (OR -1.83 [CI95% -2.81, -0.84] p=0.001).11 patients deceased because of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Univariable analysis reached age, basal csDMARD, pneumonia and basal CRP as potential predictors of COVID-19 mortality (p < 0.2). After multivariable analysis, only higher age was a predictor for mortality (OR 1.14 [CI95% 1.04,1.25] p=0.006). Conclusion IMID patients showed similar predictors of mortality than general population involving COVID-19. Immune-modulating agents did not seem to overshadow the prognosis of COVID-19 infection. Female gender, lower age and lower basal CRP is associated with mild COVID-19 disease as well higher age points out the worst prognosis. Even that, each case should be individualized.