Monocytes play an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease but data are scarce as a biomarker of activity, above all, in patients under biologic therapies. The aim was to evaluate the value of monocyte measurements in predicting flares in inflammatory bowel disease patients under maintenance treatment with anti-TNF. A prospective, observational cohort study was designed. Relapse was defined as a Harvey-Bradshaw score >4 in Crohn's disease and a partial Mayo score ≥2 in ulcerative colitis. Monocytes concentration was quantified at 4-month intervals for twelve months. 95 consecutive patients were included. The median age was 42 years, 50.5% female and 75% with Crohn's disease. 65 (68.4%) patients remained in clinical remission. Mean monocyte concentration preceding the relapse was 563 (standard deviation 144) compared to 405 (standard deviation 177) in patients who kept in remission. Final monocytes concentration significantly differentiated between relapse and remission in Crohn's disease (0.82; 95% CI: 0.71-0.90; P <0.005). In the multivariate analysis, only monocytes and fecal calprotectin related to more relapses.In conclusion, in inflammatory bowel disease patients under anti-TNF therapy, repeated monocytes concentration could help in order to monitoring patients, at least,

Background Despite the existence of specific recommendations, patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) have shown low immunization rates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the management of vaccines in clinical practice in IBD from the perspective of physicians and patients. Methods An online anonymous survey was sent to 8000 patients from a national patient association (ACCU-Spain) and 1000 members of the Spanish IBD Working Group (GETECCU). Three invitations were sent between October-December 2020. Forty questions were jointly designed by ACCU and GETECCU in two different surveys for physicians and patients. Descriptive analyses were performed, comparing physician’s and patient’s responses by standard statistical analyses Results 144 physicians and 1302 patients responded to the surveys (overall mean age of 43 years (SD 9.5). 65% of physicians managed more than 200 patients and 80% had &gt;5 years of experience. Most physicians (99%) were concerned about vaccines in IBD patients in their clinical practice, and 63% of them considered vaccines very important. Only 3.5% of physicians recommended live vaccines for their IBD patients with immunosuppressive treatments. One third of physicians did not recommend HPV vaccine. In spite of 69% of physicians recommending influenza vaccine during pregnancy, only 7.2% of pregnant patients indicated that they had received advice on influenza vaccination on their pregnancy (p&lt;0.001). Only 16.6% of physicians recommended live vaccines during the first year of life in children born to mothers exposed to biologics, and 4.4% did not recommend inactive vaccines. Moreover, patients treated with biologics considered that physicians were well trained in vaccines, compared to those treated with other drugs. Table 1 summarizes the perspective of physicians and patients. Conclusion Deficiencies in knowledge regarding vaccination of IBD patients can be frequent. The perspective of physicians and patients is different, with physicians perceiving more recommendations related to vaccines than patients were recommended.

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Background Despite the existence of specific recommendations, patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have shown low immunization rates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the adherence to vaccination recommendations by physicians to their IBD patients. Methods An online anonymous survey was sent to 8000 patients from a national patient association (ACCU-Spain). Three invitations were sent between October-December 2020. Questions were jointly designed by ACCU and GETECCU. Potential reasons for vaccination compliance were evaluated and analysed for different vaccines: age, gender, type of IBD, type of healthcare and treatments. Descriptive analyses and logistic regression were performed to identify factors associated with adherence to vaccination recommendations. Results 1302 patients with IBD responded to the survey (mean age 43 years [SD 12], 72% women). Forty percent of patients had ulcerative colitis, 58% Crohn’s disease and 2% indeterminate colitis. 91% of patients were treated in public facilities, 5% in a private setting and 4% in both. 41% of patients were treated with 5ASA, 35% with azathioprine/methotrexate, 50% with biologics and 8% with corticosteroids. Although [IRL1] [YZ2] physicians recommended vaccination, 45% were not adherent to papilloma virus vaccine, 18% to pneumococcus, 18% to hepatitis B vaccine, 16% to influenza and 12% to tetanus. The main reason for non-compliance to physician recommendation was considering that is not necessary (Table 1). Some factors associated to vaccine compliance are shown in Table 2. Conclusion Non-adherence to vaccination recommendations in IBD patients is frequent. Patients with immunosuppressive therapy show less compliance to the vaccination recommendations. The importance and benefits of vaccination needs to be explained to improve the adherence in IBD patients.

Background Lack of adherence in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a relevant problem in our clinical practice. Non-adherence to anti-TNF increases healthcare costs. The aim of this study was both to measure adherence and also to study the factors and consequences related to non-adherence in patients with IBD under maintenance treatment with infliximab (IFX). Methods A prospective, observational cohort study was designed and patients with IBD under treatment with IFX were consecutively included. Adherence was measured with pharmacy refills and Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8). Patients were systematically asked about adherence and the mean displacement days, the accumulated delay, the mean delay and the medication possession ratio (MPR) were calculated. MPR was calculated by dividing the number of days supplied within the refill interval by the number of days in the actual refill interval over 24 months. Potencial risk factors for non-adherence were evaluated: age, gender, disease duration, site of disease, behaviour of Crohn’s disease (CD), smoking status, educational level, marital status, type of housing, extraintestinal manifestations, previous surgery, concomitant treatments, anxiety and depression. Relapse was defined as a Harvey Bradshaw score &gt; 4 in CD and a partial Mayo &gt; 2 in ulcerative colitis (UC). The Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon U Test was used to distinguish the intergroup differences. Correlations were evaluated with Spearman rank correlation coefficients. Results Ninety patients with mean age 46 years (range: 22–85) were included. 49 (54.4%) were women and 63 (70%) had CD. Anxiety occurred in 38.9% of patients and depression in 78.9%. Three quarters of the patients were in clinical remission at inclusion. After 24 months of follow-up, 82 (91.1%) had delayed some dose of treatment, 35 (38.9%) had delayed on at least 7 days some dose of treatment, and 11 (12.2%) had not received some of the scheduled doses. The MPR was 87% (range 46–100). Lack of adherence was related to loss of response to IFX in CD (p = 0.035), but not in UC (p=0.078). In UC, lack of adherence was related with anxiety (p=0.046). The Spearman’s correlation between older age and non-adherence was 0.53 (p=0.006) in UC and 0.1 (p=0.308) in CD. Conclusion Lack of adherence is related to loss of response to IFX in CD. Non-adherence to IFX is high and strongly associated with age in UC. Older patients with UC are more prone to lack of adherence.