Comparative study of a point-of-care test and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for infliximab levels.

Background: Proactive therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is often challenged by long turnaround time when using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), especially when analyses are centralised. Point-of-care tests (POCTs) allow rapid assessments, but data on their agreement with existing in-house methodologies are scarce.

Objective: To examine the agreement between a POCT by ProciseDx (San Diego, CA) and the most frequently used in-house ELISA for infliximab (IFX) quantification in Sweden.

Neuroimmune Modulation Through Vagus Nerve Stimulation Reduces Inflammatory Activity in Crohn's Disease Patients: A Prospective Open-label Study.

Background And Aims: Crohn's disease [CD] is a debilitating, inflammatory condition affecting the gastrointestinal tract. There is no cure and sustained clinical and endoscopic remission is achieved by fewer than half of patients with current therapies. The immunoregulatory function of the vagus nerve, the 'inflammatory reflex', has been established in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and biologic-naive CD.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Risk of Colorectal Polyps: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study From Sweden.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] has been linked to an increased risk of colorectal neoplasia. However, the types and risks of specific polyp types in IBD are less clear.

Methods: We identified 41 880 individuals with IBD (Crohn's disease [CD: n = 12 850]; ulcerative colitis [UC]: n = 29 030]) from Sweden matched with 41 880 reference individuals.

Cholinergic regulation of vascular endothelial function by human ChAT T cells.

Endothelial dysfunction and impaired vasodilation are linked with adverse cardiovascular events. T lymphocytes expressing choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), the enzyme catalyzing biosynthesis of the vasorelaxant acetylcholine (ACh), regulate vasodilation and are integral to the cholinergic antiinflammatory pathway in an inflammatory reflex in mice. Here, we found that human T cell ChAT mRNA expression was induced by T cell activation involving the PI3K signaling cascade.

Therapeutic drug monitoring in inflammatory bowel disease: implementation, utilization, and barriers in clinical practice in Scandinavia.

Background And Aims: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) may optimize biologic and thiopurine therapies in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The study aimed to investigate implementation and utilization of TDM in Scandinavia.

Methods: A web-based questionnaire on the use of TDM was distributed to Scandinavian gastroenterologists via the national societies.