title: Current strategies for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.
abstract: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, relapsing and debilitating idiopathic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Dysregulation of the mucosal immune response toward commensal bacterial flora together with genetic and environmental factors plays an important role in the pathogenesis. Refractory UC refers to disease that does not respond to or responds poorly to the many drugs used to treat the disease. The aim of medical treatment is to induce and maintain clinical remission. The most commonly used drugs, including mesalazine, azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine, cyclosporine, and more recently anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) monoclonal antibody (e.g., infliximab), are chosen to suppress the immune system in intestinal mucosa. Additionally, colectomy may be required if medical treatments are unsuccessful or if complications develop. Some of the recent patent related to the field also discuss in this review article.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Praveen K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.forename: Zhanju
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003082:Colectomy; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010330:Patents as Topic; D012074:Remission Induction / Q000379:methods; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha