Researchers announce findings from clinical trial for pediatric Crohn’s disease
Crohn’s disease is a lifelong inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that is characterized by swelling in the lining of the digestive tract, causing severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, and rectal bleeding. For pediatric patients, the disease is harder to treat. If untreated, it can impair growth, psychosocial development, and puberty.
A clinical trial under the direction of Michael Kappelman, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics at UNC School of Medicine, found that patients receiving the tumor necrosis factor inhibitor adalimumab combined with a low dose of methotrexate, a second immunosuppressant, did better than those treated with adalimumab alone. However, patients initiating infliximab, another tumor necrosis factor inhibitor, had similar outcomes with or without methotrexate.
Their findings were published in Gastroenterology, the leading journal in the field of gastrointestinal disease.
