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World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Nov 15, 2015; 6(4): 219-227
Published online Nov 15, 2015. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v6.i4.219
Promising biological therapies for ulcerative colitis: A review of the literature
Hirotada Akiho, Azusa Yokoyama, Shuichi Abe, Yuichi Nakazono, Masatoshi Murakami, Yoshihiro Otsuka, Kyoko Fukawa, Mitsuru Esaki, Yusuke Niina, Haruei Ogino
Hirotada Akiho, Azusa Yokoyama, Shuichi Abe, Yuichi Nakazono, Masatoshi Murakami, Yoshihiro Otsuka, Kyoko Fukawa, Mitsuru Esaki, Yusuke Niina, Haruei Ogino, Department of Gastroenterology, Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center, Fukuoka 802-0077, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed extensively to this manuscript; Akiho H provided a significant editorial and literature contribution; Yokoyama A, Abe S, Nakazono Y, Murakami M, Otsuka Y, Fukawa K, Esaki M, Niina Y and Ogino H provided literature-related comments and review.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Hirotada Akiho, MD, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center, 2-1-1, Bashaku kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka 802-0077, Japan. akiho@med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-93-5411831 Fax: +81-93-5338693
Received: June 22, 2015
Peer-review started: June 22, 2015
First decision: August 16, 2015
Revised: September 2, 2015
Accepted: October 23, 2015
Article in press: October 28, 2015
Published online: November 15, 2015
Processing time: 148 Days and 1 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic lifelong condition characterized by alternating flare-ups and remission. Current treatment modalities for UC include 5-aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, immunosuppressants (e.g., cyclosporine, tacrolimus), and surgery. Medical treatment aims to induce remission and prevent relapse of disease activity. Infliximab and adalimumab have been used for moderate to severe UC, and are effective in inducing and maintaining remission in UC. Recent studies have indicated that golimumab, tofacitinib, vedolizumab and etrolizumab achieved good clinical remission and response rates in UC. In this review, we provide updated information on various biological agents in the treatment of UC.