Lymphocyte to monocyte ratio and serum albumin changes predict tacrolimus therapy outcomes in patients with ulcerative colitis

Abstract Tacrolimus therapy for ulcerative colitis is ineffective in certain patients; these patients require biologics or colectomy. We examined the ability of serum albumin levels and leukocyte subtypes to predict the therapeutic efficacy of tacrolimus. Patients with ulcerative colitis treated with tacrolimus were divided into non-failure and failure (required colectomy or switch to biologics or systemic steroids) groups. Serum albumin levels and leukocyte subtypes at induction, week 1, and week 2 after reaching high trough levels were retrospectively examined. Tacrolimus therapy failed in 18/45 patients within 3 months. The week 2/week 1 albumin ratio was significantly different between the failure and non-failure groups (P