Refractory lymphocytic enterocolitis and tumor necrosis factor antagonist therapy.

Abstract

BACKGROUND & AIMS:

Lymphocytic enterocolitis is a malabsorptive syndrome characterized by severe small-bowel villous abnormality and crypt hyperplasia and dense infiltrate of lymphocytes throughout the gastrointestinal tract.

METHODS:

We present 2 patients with lymphocytic enterocolitis refractory to usual medical therapy who were treated with tumor necrosis factor antagonists.

RESULTS:

Both patients had clinical improvement in diarrheal symptoms and intestinal histologic abnormalities.

CONCLUSIONS:

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha antagonists such as infliximab or adalimumab may be a new treatment option for patients with severe refractory lymphocytic enterocolitis not responding to corticosteroids.

• Authors: Ghazaleh Aram, Theodore M Bayless, Zong-Ming Chen, Elizabeth A Montgomery, Mark Donowitz, Francis M Giardiello
• Journal: Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol) Vol. 8 Issue 4 Pg. 391-4 (Apr 2010) ISSN: 1542-7714 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 20036760 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
• Copyright: Copyright 2010 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Monoclonal
• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
• Immunologic Factors
• TNF protein, human
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
• Infliximab
• Adalimumab

Topics

• Adalimumab
• Aged
• Antibodies, Monoclonal (therapeutic use)
• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
• Colitis, Lymphocytic (therapy)
• Colon (pathology)
• Female
• Histocytochemistry
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Immunologic Factors (therapeutic use)
• Infliximab
• Intestine, Small (pathology)
• Microscopy
• Middle Aged
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (antagonists & inhibitors)