Abstract Background Crohn’s disease (CD) is chronic inflammatory disease (1). Evidence shows that patients with active CD present with reduced circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) (2). This study aimed to investigate the changes of growth factors levels in patients with CD. Methods This was a prospective multi-center observational study. The study participants were categorized into three categories: patients diagnosed with CD on infliximab therapy (infliximab group), patients scheduled to commence infliximab treatment (bio-naïve group), and a cohort of healthy individuals serving as control group. The main outcome of the study was comparing the serum levels of the IGF subtypes numbered 1 to 6 and PDGF-BB in patients with CD compared to healthy controls. In bio-naïve patients, levels of growth factors were assessed before and after initiating infliximab. Results A total of 217 patients with CD were included in the study. Growth factors levels were lower in patients with CD compared to healthy controls. Specifically, IGF levels were significantly lower in patients with CD who have already received infliximab (382.91 ± 26.94) compared to the healthy control group (449.49 ± 76.84 ng/ml) p-value 0.001. While patients who are bio-naïve had the lowest levels of IGF (57.01 ± 8.96). Levels of other IGF subtypes and PDGF-BB showed similar patterns across the three different groups (figure 1). Conclusion In patients with CD there was a significant reduction of circulating PDGF-BB and certain subtypes of IGF levels compared to healthy controls. These growth factors may serve as novel markers for IBD. References: 1. Bamias G, Cominelli F. Exploring the Early Phase of Crohns Disease. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology Internet. 2021;19(12):2469–2480. 2. Gentilucci UV, Caviglia R, Picardi A, et al. Infliximab reverses growth hormone resistance associated with inflammatory bowel disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther Internet. 2005;21(9):1063–1071. Conflict of interest: Alrashed, Fatema: No conflict of interest Dr. Shehab, Mohammad: none
Alrashed et al. (Thu,) studied this question.