How Should Pain, Fatigue, and Emotional Wellness Be Incorporated Into Treatment Goals for Optimal Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

Single-cell RNA-sequencing combined with bulk RNA-sequencing analysis of peripheral blood reveals the characteristics and key immune cell genes of ulcerative colitis

“…Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic nonspecific intestinal inflammatory disease with persistent or recurrent episodes of diarrhea, mucous−purulent bloody stool, abdominal pain, and tenesmus[ 1 ]. The course of UC often alternates between active and remission phases and requires constant maintenance therapy, which can place substantial psychological, physical and financial burdens on patients and families[ 2 ]. In China, the incidence of UC has been on the rise in recent years, and the recurrent nature of the disease reduces the quality of life of UC patients[ 3 ].…”

Editorial: measuring disease severity in inflammatory bowel disease—the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Authors' reply

“…Taken together, this suggests that the DSI could be a potentially useful ally for clinicians to identify patients at risk of psychological distress and adverse outcomes, especially as psychological symptoms are not always associated with mucosal inflammation in the gut 4 . Early recognition of ‘high risk’ individuals may offer a window of opportunity for pharmacological and psychological interventions to improve long‐term outcomes 7 . Furthermore, the DSI uses readily available measures that can be employed during a patient’s clinical follow‐up and has a similar performance in predicting an “aggressive” IBD course compared with blood‐based proteomic markers 8 .…”

“…4 Early recognition of 'high risk' individuals may offer a window of opportunity for pharmacological and psychological interventions to improve long-term outcomes. 7 Furthermore, the DSI uses readily available measures that can be employed during a patient's clinical follow-up and has a similar performance in predicting an "aggressive" IBD course compared with blood-based proteomic markers. 8 As stated in our original manuscript, a significant limitation of the DSI is the lack of formal validation of this index thus far.…”

Mild to moderate ulcerative colitis: Call me by my name

“…Thus, the definition of disease activity should be in line with the outcomes and our overall understanding of the disease. Furthermore, we will need also to re‐consider how we can assess the full picture of the disease, because those factors involving mental well‐being should also be included in the equation, as independent elements influencing the perception of the severity and quality of life 9,10 …”

“…Furthermore, we will need also to re-consider how we can assess the full picture of the disease, because those factors involving mental well-being should also be included in the equation, as independent elements influencing the perception of the severity and quality of life. 9,10 We would like to commend the authors and highlight their great work, as they also have evaluated predictors of response to mesalazine or budesonide in subjects with mild to moderate disease. Apart from those aspects associated with a higher inflammatory burden, shorter disease duration remains as a relevant factor.…”