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Background The inflammatory process associated to ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) starts before the onset of symptoms and the diagnosis, but this period has not yet been well defined. Our aim was to determine if patients with an incidental diagnosis of UC or CD have an increase in healthcare utilization in the years preceding the symptomatic onset of the disease. Methods All asymptomatic patients with a diagnosis of UC or CD during the colorectal cancer screening program between October 2010-January 2021 were included in this multicentric retrospective case-control study. Cases were matched 1:3 with controls adjusted by sex, age and date, excluding subjects with any visit to Gastroenterology. The main outcomes were the number of outpatient or Emergency Rooms visits, admissions, radiological examinations (US, CT, MRI), sick-leaves, and drug prescriptions (antibiotics, systemic steroids) up to 5 years before the diagnosis. Descriptive statistics were used, with chi-square tests and a multivariable hurdle or negative binomial regression model, adjusted by smoking habits and Charlson index. Results A total of 124 patients were included (87 UC, 30 CD, 7 IBD-U; median 56 years (IQR, 53–62); 56% male), compared with 372 controls. Baseline characteristics including comorbidities were balanced between both cohorts. Patients demonstrated an increase in the number of visits to Primary Care physician during both 3 and 5 years before the diagnosis, but there were no differences in the remaining outcomes including hospital admissions, Emergency Room or outpatients visits, and sick-leaves (Figure 1 and 2). Systemic steroids were more frequently prescribed to patients in the preceding 3 to 5 years before diagnosis. Patients underwent US and/or CT scan less frequently in the preceding 5-year period. Conclusion Patients with IBD show an increased need of medical assistance in the years prior to the diagnosis, even during the presymptomatic phase of the disease. Tools focused on early identification of IBD may start on Primary Care facilities, but certain factors as steroids may alter the development of symptoms and the full spectrum of the disease.

Background The usefulness of therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM) of infliximab during induction and its relationship with clinical outcome in patients with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) is well established. However, the optimal time of monitoring in terms of clinical outcomes remains unclear. The aim is to evaluate the TDM at various times during induction and its association with clinical remission. Methods An observational, retrospective and single-centre study of patients with active disease ,Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis(UC), was performed. Induction treatment with infliximab 0, 2, 6 weeks was conducted and if there was response, maintenance therapy was provided. Antibody levels were measured in serum samples at week 2 and week 14 by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, within the therapeutic range(3-8 µg/ml). Patients were followed at least for one year or until loss of response. The clinical response was assessed in week 14 and week 52 by Harvey-Bradshaw Index in CD and Mayo Partial Index in UC. Results Out of 93 patients that were evaluated, 23 with UC(24.73%) and 70 with CD(75.27%,), 65 (69.89%) and 58 patients(62.37%) achieved remission at week 14 and week 52 respectively. Infliximab levels at week 14 but not at week 2 were significantly higher in patients who achieved clinical remission in both week 14 (5.8 vs 2.1 µg/ml; p=0.0002) as in week 52 (6.4 vs 1.9 µg/ml; p=0.0001). The levels at week 14, but not at week 2 had predictive value of remission, in both week 14 [OR 1,4 (CI 1.14-1.76) p=0.001] and week 52 [OR 1.4 (CI 1.15-1.87); p=0.001]. The patients with immunosuppressants at week 14 presented the highest rate of remission in week 52 (77.78 vs 52.63; p=0.014). The intensification of treatment was a negative factor to achieve remission both in week 14 and at week 52. Conclusion The levels of infliximab in week 14 are higher and have predictive value of clinical remission both in early (week 14) and long-term (week 52). Levels of infliximab in week 2 did not provide significant predictive value of clinical response. The use of immunosuppressants could be a favourable factor of clinical outcome.

Background Currently,endoscopy,an invasive medical procedure, is the gold standard for diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and to determine mucosal activity.Our main goal was to identify biomarkers in saliva samples that can be used as a screening tool for the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis(UC) and Crohn`s disease(CD). Methods 100 saliva samples were collected from: healthy individuals(20), UC-active stage(10),UC-remission stage(31),CD-active stage(7) and CD-remission stage(32) patients. The samples were thawed on ice and centrifugated at 10,000g for 15 min at 4ºC.The supernatants were aliquoted and stored at -80ºC. The protein extracts were digested with trypsin and peptides resulting from digestion were loaded onto a nano Acquity UPLC chromatograph and analysed in a nano Elute coupled on-line to a timsTOF Pro(Bruker).The data obtained was then processed and loaded onto the Progenesis LC-MS software (Nonlinear Dynamics) for Orbitrap data and PEAKS(Bioinformatics Solutions Inc.) for timsTOF Pro data. Finally, this information was converted to deregulation patterns at protein level and relative quantification was done. Saliva protein levels were compared between healthy (always as control) and CD remission,UC remission,UC active and CD active stages respectively.The identification of potential biomarkers was carried out with classical statistic methods(p value 1,5) and data Mining mathematical model(p-value Results We have chosen the most relevant classifiers according to statistical and biological criteria, based on their biological function and the pathogenesis of UC or CD(figure 1). We have identified 152 classifiers(biomarkers),118 single and 34 dual, defined by one or two proteins of a list of 135 proteins(table 1).The classifiers are shown for each cohort compared to healthy control:42 biomarkers were found in Active UC,16 in Remission UC, 99 in Active CD and 13 in Remission CD,all of them compared to healthy controls. Conclusion Multiple potential biomarkers have been identified in saliva in relation to IBD. Biomarkers with significant value have been found for identifying and classifying UC as well as CD, compared to controls.The number of biomarkers found in CD has been higher than in UC. The simple biomarker option(versus dual) is recommended,since its application involves fewer errors.