Tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase inhibitor, in active ulcerative colitis.
BACKGROUND
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon for which current treatments are not universally effective. One additional treatment may be tofacitinib (CP-690,550), an oral inhibitor of Janus kinases 1, 2, and 3 with in vitro functional specificity for kinases 1 and 3 over kinase 2, which is expected to block signaling involving gamma chain-containing cytokines including interleukins 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, and 21. These cytokines are integral to lymphocyte activation, function, and proliferation.


METHODS
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial, we evaluated the efficacy of tofacitinib in 194 adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Patients were randomly assigned to receive tofacitinib at a dose of 0.5 mg, 3 mg, 10 mg, or 15 mg or placebo twice daily for 8 weeks. The primary outcome was a clinical response at 8 weeks, defined as an absolute decrease from baseline in the score on the Mayo scoring system for assessment of ulcerative colitis activity (possible score, 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating more severe disease) of 3 or more and a relative decrease from baseline of 30% or more with an accompanying decrease in the rectal bleeding subscore of 1 point or more or an absolute rectal bleeding subscore of 0 or 1.


RESULTS
The primary outcome, clinical response at 8 weeks, occurred in 32%, 48%, 61%, and 78% of patients receiving tofacitinib at a dose of 0.5 mg (P=0.39), 3 mg (P=0.55), 10 mg (P=0.10), and 15 mg (P<0.001), respectively, as compared with 42% of patients receiving placebo. Clinical remission (defined as a Mayo score ≤2, with no subscore >1) at 8 weeks occurred in 13%, 33%, 48%, and 41% of patients receiving tofacitinib at a dose of 0.5 mg (P=0.76), 3 mg (P=0.01), 10 mg (P<0.001), and 15 mg (P<0.001), respectively, as compared with 10% of patients receiving placebo. There was a dose-dependent increase in both low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Three patients treated with tofacitinib had an absolute neutrophil count of less than 1500.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis treated with tofacitinib were more likely to have clinical response and remission than those receiving placebo. (Funded by Pfizer; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00787202.).
Division of Gastroenterology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093-0956, USA. wsandborn@ucsd.edu
William J
WJ
Sandborn
Subrata
S
Ghosh
Julian
J
Panes
Ivana
I
Vranic
Chinyu
C
Su
Samantha
S
Rousell
Wojciech
W
Niezychowski
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053612:Janus Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010880:Piperidines; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012074:Remission Induction
D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL; D010880:Piperidines; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011743:Pyrimidines; D011758:Pyrroles; C479163:tofacitinib; D053612:Janus Kinases