title: Effectiveness of concomitant enteral nutrition therapy and infliximab for maintenance treatment of Crohn's disease in adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  One of the problems associated with infliximab (IFX) treatment for Crohn's disease (CD) is loss of response during maintenance therapy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this multicenter, retrospective, cohort study was to determine whether enteral nutrition (EN) added to the IFX therapy regimen is effective for maintaining remission in adult CD patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with CD who had started IFX therapy between April 2003 and March 2008 at any one of the seven participating medical centers and who met the following inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study: remission after triple infusions of IFX followed by IFX maintenance therapy every 8 weeks, and follow-up data available for ≥ 1 year. Remission was defined as a C-reactive protein (CRP) level of <0.3 mg/dL, and recurrence was defined as an increase in CRP to ≥ 1.5 mg/dL or shortening of the IFX interval. Patients were classified by EN dosage into two groups (EN group and non-EN group). The cumulative remission period and related factors were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 102 adult CD patients who met the inclusion criteria, 45 were in the EN group and 57 were in the non-EN group. The cumulative remission rate was significantly higher in the EN group than in the non-EN group (P = 0.009). Multivariate analysis revealed that EN was the only suppressive factor for disease recurrence (P = 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results demonstrate that among this CD patient cohort, EN combined with IFX maintenance treatment was clinically useful for maintaining remission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital, 1-1-1 Zokumyoin, Chikushino, Fukuoka, 818-8502, Japan. fuhirai@cis.fukuoka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Fumihito
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.forename: Shinichirou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yada
authors.forename: Motohiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esaki
authors.forename: Tomohisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohwan
authors.forename: Ryoichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nozaki
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ashizuka
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inatsu
authors.forename: Hidehisa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohi
authors.forename: Kunihiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoyagi
authors.forename: Yohei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizuta
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D004750:Enteral Nutrition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000069285:Infliximab; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055502:Secondary Prevention
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000069285:Infliximab