title: Leukocyte adsorptive apheresis for the treatment of active ulcerative colitis: a prospective, uncontrolled, pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Active ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by infiltration of activated granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages (GM) within the large bowel mucosa. GM are major sources of inflammatory cytokines, and in UC they are elevated with increased survival time. We investigated the possibility that reducing the level of these cells might promote remission of active UC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-one patients with active corticosteroid refractory (refractory) UC, mean age of 42 years, duration of UC 6 years, clinical activity index (CAI) of 15, disease activity index (DAI) of 10, and 8 corticosteroid naive patients (naive), mean age of 36 years, duration of UC 2 years, CAI of 11, DAI of 8 were recruited. Each patient was treated with up to 11 cycles of granulocyte and monocyte adsorptive apheresis over 11 weeks by using a 335-mL capacity column filled with cellulose acetate beads that adsorb GM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At week 12, 81% of refractory (CAI, 3; P < 0.001 and DAI, 4; P < 0.001) and 88% of naive (CAI, 1; P = 0.012 and DAI, 3; P = 0.011) patients achieved remission. Early relapse was not a feature, and at 12 months, 26 of 33 patients had maintained their remission. The treatment was well tolerated, and no severe side effects were observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The outcome of this study suggests that reduction of circulating granulocytes and monocytes results in alleviation of inflammation and promotes clinical remission in patients with severe active UC that has not responded to intensive corticosteroid treatment. These data suggest that formal controlled studies are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endoscopic and Photodynamic Medicine, Hamamatsu University, Japan. hanai@hama-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hanai
authors.forename: Fumitoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwaoka
authors.forename: Abby
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saniabadi
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Kotaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tozawa
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Takahisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Ingvar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bjarnason
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000628:therapy*; D003113:Colonoscopy; D005260:Female; D006098:Granulocytes; D006801:Humans; D007937:Leukapheresis; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012074:Remission Induction