TY - JOUR
T1 - Thiopurine therapy in inflammatory bowel disease in the pandemic era
T2 - Safe or unsafe?
AU - Perdalkar, Shailesh
AU - Basthi Mohan, Pooja
AU - Musunuri, Balaji
AU - Rajpurohit, Siddheesh
AU - Shetty, Shiran
AU - Bhat, Krishnamurthy
AU - Pai, Cannanore Ganesh
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are thankful to the Indian Council of Medical Research (for providing a Senior Research Fellowship to Shailesh) and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal (for providing Dr. T.M.A. Pai Ph.D. Scholarship to Pooja Basthi Mohan and Siddheesh Rajpurohit). The authors also thank Nivedita Shriyan for proofreading the article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) are the two major types affecting millions across the globe. Various Immunomodulatory drugs consisting of small molecules (thiopurines, methotrexate and tofacitinib) and biologics are used to treat IBD. Thiopurines (TP) are widely used in the treatment of IBD and it plays an important role both alone and in combination with anti-TNF agents as IBD maintenance therapy. Although the advent of biologics therapy has significantly advanced the management of IBD, TP remains the mainstay of treatment in resource-limited and low economic settings. However, the recently commenced pandemic has raised uncertainty over the safety of the use of immunosuppressant drugs such as TP among healthcare care providers and patients, as there is a scarcity of data on whether IBD patients are at higher risk of COVID-19 infection or more prone to its severe outcomes. Aim: This review aims to encapsulate evidence on the risk of COVID-19 infection and its severe prognosis in IBD patients on TP. Additionally, it also evaluates the role of TP in inhibiting the viral protease, a potential drug target, essential for the replication and pathogenesis of the virus. Conclusion: Emerging evidence suggests that TP therapy is safe during the current pandemic and does not carry an elevated risk when used as monotherapy on in combination with other IBD drugs. In-vitro studies demonstrate that TP is a potential therapeutic for present and future betacoronavirus pandemics.
AB - Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) are the two major types affecting millions across the globe. Various Immunomodulatory drugs consisting of small molecules (thiopurines, methotrexate and tofacitinib) and biologics are used to treat IBD. Thiopurines (TP) are widely used in the treatment of IBD and it plays an important role both alone and in combination with anti-TNF agents as IBD maintenance therapy. Although the advent of biologics therapy has significantly advanced the management of IBD, TP remains the mainstay of treatment in resource-limited and low economic settings. However, the recently commenced pandemic has raised uncertainty over the safety of the use of immunosuppressant drugs such as TP among healthcare care providers and patients, as there is a scarcity of data on whether IBD patients are at higher risk of COVID-19 infection or more prone to its severe outcomes. Aim: This review aims to encapsulate evidence on the risk of COVID-19 infection and its severe prognosis in IBD patients on TP. Additionally, it also evaluates the role of TP in inhibiting the viral protease, a potential drug target, essential for the replication and pathogenesis of the virus. Conclusion: Emerging evidence suggests that TP therapy is safe during the current pandemic and does not carry an elevated risk when used as monotherapy on in combination with other IBD drugs. In-vitro studies demonstrate that TP is a potential therapeutic for present and future betacoronavirus pandemics.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109597
DO - 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109597
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85146835220
SN - 1567-5769
VL - 116
JO - International Immunopharmacology
JF - International Immunopharmacology
M1 - 109597
ER -