Changes in Intestinal Microecology Before and After Vedolizumab Treatment for Ulcerative Colitis and Correlation With Efficacy
Inflammatory bowel disease is a group of chronic, non-specific inflammatory diseases of the intestinal tract whose etiology has not yet been fully elucidated, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Vedolizumab, a novel biologic agent, is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that specifically antagonizes intestine-selective α4β7 integrins on the surface of leukocyte subsets, thereby preventing migration of leukocyte subsets from the blood to the intestinal mucosa and reducing local inflammation in the gut. In this study the investigators propose to build on an existing cohort and analyse, by means of a multi-omics approach, the baseline gut microbial composition and abundance, intestinal and serum metabolome characteristics of UC patients and their changes during treatment, to predict the functional mechanisms by which these changing characteristics influence the therapeutic response to vindolizumab.
• 18 years of age or older, with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, with an indication for vedolizumab treatment;
• Consent to participate in the study, read and sign the informed consent form;
• No previous treatment with vedolizumab;
• Never undergone biologic therapy or at least suspended previous biologic therapy for more than 12 weeks;
• Not taking antibiotics or probiotics within the past 4 weeks.