New Treatment for Crohn’s Disease

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It’s a disease that affects half a million Americans, and new research may give these patients new hope. Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disorder that affects the small intestine, causing abdominal pain and chronic diarrhea. Researchers say the drug GM-CSF, that is used to restore bone marrow function in chemotherapy patients, may be helpful for Crohn’s patients.

Doctors from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis proposed a new concept about Crohn’s disease. They say the inflammation that occurs with Crohn’s is not caused by an excessive immune response but could result from defects in the body’s first line of immune defense. This means the disease symptoms are caused by a secondary inflammation. 

They conducted a pilot study at 28 centers that focused on treating Crohn’s patients with GM-CSF. The drug was injected for 56 days in 57 patients, and 37 patients received a placebo injection. Patients were evaluated every two weeks during the study as well as a month after the study's completion. Researchers say the patients who received the drug reported significant improvements in their symptoms and an improved quality of life. 

“We’re encouraged that these results support this new understanding of Crohn’s and hope they will lead to a new treatment option for the disease,” says Joshua Korzenik, M.D., lead author of the study. “We’re working with other institutions to conduct the larger-scale studies that would be needed to apply for FDA approval for this use of GM-CSF.”

SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2005;352:2193-2201