On October 19, Adriaan Volkers will receive his PhD from the University of Amsterdam. In his dissertation, which he wrote under the supervision of co-supervisor Dr. Mark Löwenberg and promotor Prof. Dr. Geert D’Haens, he describes various clinical studies aimed at optimal management of inflammatory bowel diseases.
Volkers investigated, among other things, the response to treatment of Crohn’s disease via capsule endoscopy of the entire intestine (pan-CE). This method proved effective to measure changes in endoscopic disease activity. In another study, he validated a new device for point-of-care testing that can measure concentrations of infliximab, adalimumab and CRP in capillary blood and concentrations of fecal calprotectin in stool samples.
Furthermore, Volkers and his colleagues conducted an RCT in which they compared mercaptopurine, dosed according to therapeutic drug monitoring, with placebo. After one year of treatment, mercaptopurine appeared to be more effective, with a significantly greater number of patients achieving clinical, endoscopic and histological remission.
Finally, Volkers studied the humoral immune response after SARS-CoV-2 in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID). He discovered that patients treated with TNF inhibitors, such as infliximab or adalimumab, were less likely to be seropositive after a previous infection. About a quarter of them reported higher IMID activity, which led to treatment intensification in only 2%.
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2023-10-10 08:32:59
#Promotion #Alternatives #treatment #inflammatory #bowel #disease #MedNet
