REVIEW  INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE: BEYOND THE EDGE 

Minerva Gastroenterologica e Dietologica 2019 December;65(4):298-308

DOI: 10.23736/S1121-421X.19.02621-7

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Evaluation of cytokine levels as putative biomarkers to predict the pharmacological response to biologic therapy in inflammatory bowel diseases

Lorenzo BERTANI ¹ ✉, Luca ANTONIOLI ², Matteo FORNAI ², Gherardo TAPETE ¹, Giovanni BAIANO SVIZZERO ¹, Santino MARCHI ¹, Corrado BLANDIZZI ², Francesco COSTA ³

¹ Unit of Gastroenterology, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy; ² Unit of Pharmacology and Pharmacovigilance, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; ³ Unit of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Department of General Surgery and Gastroenterology, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy

Cytokines play a central role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases. For this reason, the vast majority of biological therapies are aimed to block pro-inflammatory cytokines or their receptors. Although these drugs have modified the course of the disease due to their efficacy, a high rate of non-response or loss of response over time is still an important issue for clinicians. In this perspective, many studies have been conducted in recent years to individuate a reliable biomarker of therapeutic response. In this review, we discuss the role of cytokines involved in the pathogenesis and in the therapy of inflammatory bowel diseases, and their putative use as pharmacological biomarkers of therapy responsiveness.

KEY WORDS: Inflammatory bowel diseases; Cytokines; Biological therapy; Tumor biomarkers