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Efficacy of upadacitinib in the achievement of clinical and endoscopic remission in hospitalized patients with ulcerative colitis

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Abstract

Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors have been developed and are clinically available for management of active UC patients although most studies have been conducted for the outpatients and few studies have demonstrated its efficacy in endoscopic and histological remission of hospitalized patients with UC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of upadacitinib, which is a novel selective JAK1 inhibitor, in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. We present the cases of three hospitalized patients with ulcerative colitis who achieved clinical remission after significant and rapid improvement with upadacitinib. While upadacitinib was used as the second-line treatment for patients with insufficient treatment effects for corticosteroids or ustekinumab, a patient received it just after admission because they were steroid dependent and previously used advanced therapy before hospitalization. All patients demonstrated rapid clinical responses within 7 days and the partial Mayo scores were 0 at week 8. All patients achieved confirmed endoscopic and histological remissions. We conclude that upadacitinib is a potential treatment option for hospitalized patients with an inadequate response to other biologics and JAK inhibitors.

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Acknowledgements

We would also like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.

Funding

There is no funding for presenting these case series.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

MN conceived the study. NN, YH, YS, YI, NF, and TF designed the main concept of this study. NN, TO and MN participated in clinical information acquisition. NN and MN drafted and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to critical review and approved the final draft.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Makoto Naganuma.

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Conflict of interest

Makoto Naganuma received grants from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, AbbVie GK, Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and lecture fees from Tanabe Pharma Corporation, AbbVie GK, Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Kissei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., JIMRO Co., Ltd., Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Pfizer Japan Inc., EA Pharma Co., Ltd., Miyarisan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Corporation, AbbVie GK, outside the submitted work.

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Nakamura, N., Honzawa, Y., Ohtsu, T. et al. Efficacy of upadacitinib in the achievement of clinical and endoscopic remission in hospitalized patients with ulcerative colitis. Clin J Gastroenterol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-024-01976-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-024-01976-1

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