Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2020 Dec 3;izaa309. doi: 10.1093/ibd/izaa309. Online ahead of print.

Sun-Ho Lee ^1 2, Margaret Walshe ², Eun Hye Oh ¹, Sung Wook Hwang ^1 3, Sang Hyoung Park ^1 3, Dong-Hoon Yang ¹, Jeong-Sik Byeon ¹, Seung-Jae Myung ¹, Suk-Kyun Yang ^1 3, Tomer Greener ², Adam V Weizman ², Mark S Silverberg ², Byong Duk Ye ^1 3

Author information

• ¹Department of Gastroenterology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• ²Inflammatory Bowel Disease Group, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
• ³Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Background: Up to 60% of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) ultimately fail anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) treatment. We aimed to investigate early predictive markers of clinical and endoscopic outcomes in patients with UC who were anti-TNF-naïve commencing anti-TNF treatment, with particular focus on changes in albumin and C-reactive protein levels in the first 2 weeks of treatment.

Methods: We retrospectively investigated 210 patients with UC who started infliximab or adalimumab between 2009 and 2016 (male, 62.4%; median age at diagnosis, 37.9 years [interquartile range, 25.5-48.9 years]; median follow-up duration, 3.3 years [1.9-5.0 years]). Logistic and Cox proportional-hazards regressions were performed to identify variables associated with primary nonresponse (PNR), endoscopic outcomes, time-to-colectomy, and anti-TNF failure.

Results: Forty-one patients (19.5%) experienced PNR; week 0/week 2 ratio serum albumin was associated with PNR (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-2.9, per interquartile range increase). Week 0/week 2 ratio albumin was also associated with endoscopic response (aOR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.31-0.82) and endoscopic remission (aOR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.39-0.96) at weeks 8 to 14, time-to-colectomy (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.29-3.49) and time-to-anti-TNF failure (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.22-1.96), regardless of age, disease severity, or in-patient status. Association with time-to-colectomy and anti-TNF failure was externally validated in an independent cohort of inpatients with UC starting infliximab.

Conclusions: Change in serum albumin within the first 2 weeks of anti-TNF treatment is predictive of PNR, endoscopic outcomes, time-to-colectomy, and anti-TNF failure in patients with UC. Timely access to this biomarker enables early identification of patients with UC at risk of anti-TNF failure and may guide early optimization of anti-TNF treatment to improve disease outcomes.