title: Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. versus azathioprine for prevention of postoperative recurrence in patients with Crohn's disease: a randomized clinical trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. (TwHF) has been used for many years to induce the remission of Crohn's disease in China.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare TwHF versus azathioprine for the prevention of postoperative recurrence in Crohn's disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  90 Crohn's disease patients who had undergone resection were treated with TwHF 1.5mg/kg/day or azathioprine 2.0 mg/kg/day. The primary endpoint was clinical recurrence, and the secondary endpoint was endoscopic recurrence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  47 patients completed the trial. Clinical recurrence was observed in 6/45 patients in the TwHF group and 4/45 patients in the azathioprine group at week 26 (P=0.74). At week 52, 8/45 azathioprine patients and 12/45 TwHF patients had clinical recurrence (P = 0.45). During the first 26 weeks, 56.8% of the patients in the TwHF group versus 47.7% in the azathioprine group experienced endoscopic recurrence (P = 0.52). However, at week 52, 74.4% of patients in the TwHF group and 50% in the azathioprine group had endoscopic recurrence (P = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TwHF was less effective in maintaining endoscopic remission at week 52, even though TwHF was comparable to azathioprine for preventing postoperative clinical recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: zhuwmjlh@163.com.
authors.forename: Weiming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Lugen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Jieshou
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001379:Azathioprine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012008:Recurrence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D029757:Tripterygium; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D001379:Azathioprine
keywords: Azathioprine; Crohn's disease; Postoperative recurrence; Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f.