Mesalazine in the induction of clinical and endoscopic remission of mild and moderate ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Introduction. Treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) is necessary to induce remission and subsequently to maintain it. Given the good tolerability, safety and efficacy of mesalazine, it is considered as a first-line therapy for patients with mild to moderate forms.Aim of the study. To evaluate the effectiveness of induction of clinical and endoscopic remission in patients with mild and moderate UC during 8 weeks therapy with mesalazine in routine clinical practice.Materials and methods. The study included 40 patients aged 18 to 75 years with mild to moderate attacks of UC who received therapy for 8 weeks. Efficacy was evaluated after 2 and 8 weeks. The dynamics of the quality of life of patients was assessed on the basis of the IBS-QOL questionnaire, satisfaction with therapy was assessed using the Likert scale.Results. During therapy, the Mayo index significantly decreased, amounting to 4.95 ± 1.74 vs 4.08 ± 1.58 vs 2.53 ± 1.45 for visits 1, 2 and 3, respectively (p < 0.05). The mean value of the level of calprotectin decreased by 2.5 times during 8 weeks of therapy (p < 0.05). After 8 weeks of observation, there were no endoscopic signs of inflammation in 10 patients (25%), in 3 patients (7.5%) endoscopic activity was moderate, and in the remaining 27 subjects (67.5%) it was minimal. The mean IBS-QOL score decreased from 84.25 ± 19.67 to 69.80 ± 17.96 after 8 weeks of therapy (p < 0.05). Satisfaction with treatment according to the Likert scale was 4.13 ± 0.79 points, which corresponds to a high degree of satisfaction. No adverse events were recorded during the entire observation period.Conclusion. Data analysis demonstrated the effectiveness of induction of clinical and endoscopic remission of mild to moderate forms of left-sided UC and pancolitis with a significant positive effect on the quality of life and good tolerability of the drug.