Arthritis drug fights Crohn’s disease
By Nathan Seppa
The inflammation-fighting drug infliximab, which has shown promise against acute attacks of Crohn’s disease, can hold off the intestinal ailment for a full year in many patients, an international group of researchers now report in the May 4 Lancet.
Not all people with Crohn’s disease–marked by pain, diarrhea, and weight loss–respond to infliximab, which is mainly used against rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers identified 355 Crohn’s patients in North America, Europe, and Israel who responded to a single dose and then enrolled them in a trial to test the drug’s long-term effectiveness.