Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Antibodies for Remission Maintenance Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises chronic inflammatory conditions of the digestive tract including ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and indeterminate colitis. The etiopathogenesis of IBD remains unknown and is probably multifactorial. A key pro-inflammatory cytokine in IBD is tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). The goals of the medical treatment of IBD include inducing a clinical response, maintaining clinical remission, mucosal healing, minimizing the use of corticosteroids, improvement of quality of life, and prevention of colorectal cancer. A huge advance in the therapy of inflammatory bowel disease has been the introduction of biological therapies with anti-TNF-alpha antibodies (infliximab, adalimumab, certolizumab) already administrated in clinical practice (Adv Clin Exp Med 2010, 19, 2, 143-150).