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Objective: This 1-year study aimed to assess low-dose budesonide therapy for maintenance of clinical remission in patients with collagenous colitis., Design: A prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled study beginning with an 8-week open-label induction phase in which patients with histologically confirmed active collagenous colitis received budesonide (Budenofalk, 9 mg/day initially, tapered to 4.5 mg/day), after which 92 patients in clinical remission were randomised to budesonide (mean dose 4.5 mg/day; Budenofalk 3 mg capsules, two or one capsule on alternate days) or placebo in a 12-month double-blind phase with 6 months treatment-free follow-up. Primary endpoint was clinical remission throughout the double-blind phase., Results: Clinical remission during open-label treatment was achieved by 84.5% (93/110 patients). The median time to remission was 10.5 days (95% CI (9.0 to 14.0 days)). The maintenance of clinical remission at 1 year was achieved by 61.4% (27/44 patients) in the budesonide group versus 16.7% (8/48 patients) receiving placebo (treatment difference 44.5% in favour of budesonide; 95% CI (26.9% to 62.7%), p<0.001). Health-related quality of life was maintained during the 12-month double-blind phase in budesonide-treated patients. During treatment-free follow-up, 82.1% (23/28 patients) formerly receiving budesonide relapsed after study drug discontinuation. Low-dose budesonide over 1 year resulted in few suspected adverse drug reactions (7/44 patients), all non-serious., Conclusions: Budesonide at a mean dose of 4.5 mg/day maintained clinical remission for at least 1 year in the majority of patients with collagenous colitis and preserved health-related quality of life without safety concerns. Treatment extension with low-dose budesonide beyond 1 year may be beneficial given the high relapse rate after budesonide discontinuation., Trial Registration Numbers: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01278082) and http://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu (EudraCT: 2007-001315-31)., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/)

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of long-term budesonide therapy for the maintenance of clinical remission in patients with collagenous colitis., Design: Randomised, placebo-controlled study with a 24-week, blinded follow-up period without any treatment., Setting: Three gastroenterology clinics in Denmark., Patients: Forty-two patients with histologically confirmed collagenous colitis and diarrhoea (more than three stools/day)., Interventions: Patients in clinical remission after 6 weeks' open-label therapy with oral budesonide (Entocort CIR capsules, 9 mg/day) received 24 weeks' double-blind maintenance therapy with budesonide 6 mg/day or placebo. Thereafter, patients entered the 24-week, blinded follow-up period., Main Outcome Measure: The proportion of patients in clinical remission (three or fewer stools/day) at the end of maintenance therapy., Findings: A total of 34 patients in remission at week 6 were randomly assigned to budesonide 6 mg/day (n = 17) or placebo (n = 17). After 24 weeks' maintenance treatment, the proportions of patients in clinical remission were 76.5% (13 of 17) with budesonide and 12% (2 of 17) with placebo (p<0.001). At 48 weeks (the end of the follow-up period, without any treatment) these values were 23.5% (4 of 17) and 12% (2 of 17), respectively (p = 0.6). The median times to relapse after stopping active treatment (6 plus 24 weeks in the budesonide group; 6 weeks in the placebo group) were 39 and 38 days, respectively. Long-term treatment with budesonide was well tolerated., Conclusions: Long-term maintenance therapy with oral budesonide is efficacious and well tolerated for preventing relapse in patients with collagenous colitis. The risk of relapse after 24 weeks' maintenance treatment is similar to that observed after 6 weeks' induction therapy.

Background: Collagenous colitis is characterised by diarrhoea, lymphocytic inflammation, and a thickened subepithelial collagen layer in the colorectal mucosa. No standard treatment of the disease is established., Aims: To investigate the clinical and histological effect of oral budesonide (Entocort, AstraZeneca) in the treatment of collagenous colitis., Patients: Twenty patients with collagenous colitis (collagen layer >10 micro m) and diarrhoea (>4 stools/day and/or stool weight >200 g/day)., Methods: A randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial of budesonide treatment. Patients were randomised to placebo or budesonide for eight weeks. Stool frequency and stool weight were registered before and after treatment. Sigmoidoscopy was performed before and after treatment, and biopsies at fixed locations were obtained for morphometric analysis., Results: Ten patients were randomised to budesonide and 10 to placebo. All 10 patients receiving budesonide had a clinical response compared with two in the placebo group (p<0.001). In the budesonide group, stool weight was reduced from 574 g/day to 200 g/day and stool frequency was reduced from 6.2/day to 1.9/day (p<0.01). The histological inflammation grade in the sigmoid mucosa and the thickness of the collagen layer were significantly reduced. A correlation between the grade of inflammation as well as collagen layer thickness and stool weight was found. No side effects were reported. Eight of 10 patients had relapse of symptoms within eight weeks after stopping treatment., Conclusions: Budesonide is a highly effective and well tolerated treatment of collagenous colitis. There is a high risk of relapse after stopping eight weeks of treatment.