Infliximab Trough Levels at Induction to Predict Treatment Failure During Maintenance
Description
Infliximab Trough Levels at Induction to Predict Treatment Failure During Maintenance.
BACKGROUND:
Infliximab (IFX) is indicated for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Nevertheless, loss of response (LOR) to IFX is reported in up to 10% to 30% of patients within the first year of treatment. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of the pharmacokinetics of IFX at induction on treatment failure.
METHODS:
This is a longitudinal cohort study on 269 patients with IBD treated with IFX in a single center. A total of 2331 blood samples were prospectively collected from 2007 until March 2015 with a retrospective analysis of clinical data. IFX trough levels (TLs) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antibodies to IFX were measured by drug-sensitive bridging assay.
RESULTS:
During follow-up, patients were defined according to treatment outcome. At week 6, median IFX TL in patients requiring a switch to another treatment due to LOR (LOR switched group) (2.32 μg/mL [0.12-19.93 μg/mL]) was lower than in patients with long-term response (long-term responders) (8.66 μg/mL [0.12-12.09 μg/mL], P = …



