ArticleTherapeutic advances in gastroenterology2016
Low-dose azathioprine is effective in maintaining remission in steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis: results from a territory-wide Chinese population-based IBD registry.
Article in Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review Article: The Impact of the Gut Microbiome on Ulcerative Colitis Pharmacotherapy.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2026Review
- Revisiting thiopurines and therapeutic drug monitoring in IBD: Insights and implications in the Indian context.Indian journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology · 2026Article
- Efficacy and safety of azathioprine in patients with Cronkhite-Canada syndrome: a case series from Peking Union Medical College Hospital.BMC pharmacology & toxicology · 2024Article
- MnOJournal of nanobiotechnology · 2024Article
- Efficacy of Combined Initial Treatment of Methotrexate with Infliximab in Pediatric Crohn's Disease: A Pilot Study.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- Relapse rates after withdrawal of thiopurines in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.International journal of colorectal disease · 2022Article
- Use of thiopurines in inflammatory bowel disease: an update.Intestinal research · 2022Review
- NUDT15 genotyping during azathioprine treatment in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: implications for a dose-optimization strategy.Gastroenterology report · 2020Article
- Thiopurines' Metabolites and Drug Toxicity: A Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Review
- Nucleoside diphosphate-linked moiety X-type motif 15 R139C genotypes impact 6-thioguanine nucleotide cut-off levels to predict thiopurine-induced leukopenia in Crohn's disease patients.World journal of gastroenterology · 2019Article
- Can We Predict the Toxicity and Response to Thiopurines in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases?Frontiers in medicine · 2019Review
- Low dose of azathioprine is effective to induce and maintain remission in active Crohn disease: A prospective observational study.Medicine · 2018Observational
- Revisiting the Role of Thiopurines in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Through Pharmacogenomics and Use of Novel Methods for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2018Review
- Trend towards dose reduction of azathioprine as monotherapy in inflammatory bowel disease patients: what about for combination therapy?Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology · 2017Article
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26 authors at 12 institutions in 3 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundWhether low-dose azathioprine (AZA) is effective in maintaining remission in patients with steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis (UC) remains unclear. We assessed the efficacy and safety of low-dose AZA in a Chinese population with UC.
methodsWe identified steroid-dependent UC patients in clinical remission on AZA maintenance therapy from a territory-wide IBD Registry. Standard- and low-dose AZA were defined as at least 2 mg/kg/day and less than 2 mg/kg/day, respectively. Relapse rates were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier analysis and compared using log-rank test.
resultsAmong 1226 UC patients, 128 (53% male, median duration on AZA 44 months) were included. Median maintenance AZA dose was 1.3 mg/kg/day. 97.7% of the patients were on concomitant oral 5-aminosalicylic acid. Cumulative relapse-free rates in patients on standard-dose and low-dose AZA were 71.2%, 52.8% and 45.2%, and 71.8%, 55.3% and 46.2% at 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively (p = 0.871). Relapse rate within 12 months was higher in patients who withdrew compared with those who maintained on AZA (52.6% versus 29.4%; p = 0.045). Mean corpuscular volume increased after AZA therapy in both of the low-dose [median (interquartile range, IQR): 88.2 (81.4-92.2) versus 95.1 (90.1-100.9) fl, p < 0.001] and standard-dose subgroups [median (IQR) 86.8 (76.9-89.9) versus 94.7 (85.9-99.7) fl, p < 0.001]. Leukopenia occurred in 21.1% of the patients. Patients on standard dose had a higher risk for leukopenia than those on low-dose AZA [odds ratio (OR) 3.9, 95% CI 1.9-8.2, p < 0.001].
conclusionsIn the Chinese population, low-dose AZA is effective for maintaining remission in steroid-dependent UC patients. Standard-dose AZA was associated with more than threefold increased risk of leukopenia.
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