Native Infectious Bursal Disease Virus Antigen

The advent of biologics has changed outcomes in many chronic conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Biologics have been used for the induction and remission of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease for almost two decades and are effective in patients who used to fail conventional treatment with steroids, immunomodulators. The use of biologics in the treatment of IBD has increased over the last few years, partly due to the rise in its incidence and the use of biologics as a first-line treatment in severe disease as well as in complicated diseases like penetrating/fistulating Crohn's disease. However, their use is associated with a significant burden to the society with respect to healthcare costs, resulting in the premature discontinuation of therapy in some patients, leading to exacerbations and complications. The introduction of biosimilars a decade ago seems to be a promising approach to reducing the costs related to therapy. Since their introduction, numerous studies conducted in adults and some in children show the efficacy of biosimilars with a similar side-effect profile to biologics. This review discusses the history of biosimilars in the treatment of IBD, enumerates several such studies and discusses the possibility of using biosimilars in the future.

Marine macmalgae have high concentrations of sulfated polysaccharides (PLS) studies have demonstrated their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Certain structural features of PLS such as the formation of sulfate clusters are essential for their biological activities. PLS extracted from Gracilaria caudata have shown therapeutic potential and can be considered an alternative for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as ulcerative colitis (UC). The study objective is to evaluate an anti-inflammatory action of Gracilaria caudata PLS on acetic acid-induced intestinal damage in UC model in mice. Mice were treated with PLS from Gracilaria caudata 1.0, 3.0, and 10.0 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (ip) or dexamethasone 2.0 mg/kg, subcutaneously (sc) to determine the best dose of PLS to elicit an anti-inflammatory effect on UC. Colonic-tissue samples were collected for macroscopic analysis, wet weight, microscopic, and biochemical (MPO, GSH, MDA, NO3, NO2, cytokine levels and Western blotting for iNOS) features. Treatment with PLS attenuated the colonic inflammatory process during the course of UC by reducing the macroscopic and microscopic scores and reducing the wet weight of the colon. Additionally, there was a reduction in MPO enzyme activity, GSH consumption, and reduction in MDA, NO3/NO2 and pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha) concentrations and reduction in iNOS expression. This study indicates that Gracilaria caudata PLS have anti-inflammatory action on acetic acid-induced UC by reducing inflammatory infiltrate, oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory cytokine action, and iNOS expression. The data suggest that PLS have therapeutic potential against IBD such as UC.