title: Infliximab is superior to other biological agents for treatment of active ulcerative colitis: A meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacy and safety of biological agents for the treatment of active ulcerative colitis (UC).
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane library were searched to screen relevant articles from January 1996 to August 2014. The mixed treatment comparison meta-analysis within a Bayesian framework was performed using WinBUGS14 software. The proportions of patients reaching clinical response, clinical remission and mucosal healing in induction and maintenance phases were analyzed as efficacy indicators. Serious adverse events in maintenance phase were analyzed as safety indicators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The meta-analysis results showed that biological agents achieved better clinical response, clinical remission and mucosal healing than placebo. Indirect comparison indicated that in induction phase, infliximab was more effective than adalimumab in inducing clinical response (OR = 0.41, 95%CI: 0.29-0.57), clinical remission (OR = 0.33, 95%CI: 0.19-0.56) and mucosal healing (OR = 0.33, 95%CI: 0.19-0.56), and golimumab in inducing clinical response (OR = 0.66, 95%CI: 0.39-2.33) and mucosal healing (OR = 2.15, 95%CI: 1.18-4.22). No significant difference was found between placebo and biological agents regarding their safety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All biological agents were superior to placebo for UC treatment in both induction and maintenance phases with a similar safety profile, and infliximab had a better clinical effect than the other biological agents.
authors.affiliation: Wei-Qun Mei, Hui-Zhen Hu, Wei-Guo Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, No. 117 Hospital of PLA, Hangzhou 310021, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Qun
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.affiliation: Wei-Qun Mei, Hui-Zhen Hu, Wei-Guo Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, No. 117 Hospital of PLA, Hangzhou 310021, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Zhen
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Wei-Qun Mei, Hui-Zhen Hu, Wei-Guo Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, No. 117 Hospital of PLA, Hangzhou 310021, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Wei-Qun Mei, Hui-Zhen Hu, Wei-Guo Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, No. 117 Hospital of PLA, Hangzhou 310021, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Chen
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Wei-Qun Mei, Hui-Zhen Hu, Wei-Guo Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, No. 117 Hospital of PLA, Hangzhou 310021, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Guo
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001688:Biological Products / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D003106:Colon / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000069285:Infliximab / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012074:Remission Induction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000069285:Infliximab
keywords: Biological agents; Drug safety; Efficacy; Meta-analysis; Ulcerative colitis