Tofacitinib for extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease: A literature review.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) are commonly seen in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); management of EIMs is difficult and increases the primary disease burden. Recently, tofacitinib (TOF) was reported to be a promising option for treatment of EIMs. We aimed to review published articles and report experience to date.

METHODS

The PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched to identify eligible studies. The inclusion criteria were as follows: confirmed diagnosis of IBD; definitive EIMs; treatment with TOF; human study and published in English. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale score and Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias were used to determine the quality of the selected studies.

RESULTS

Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria and were included. For nonrandomized studies, 16 were low quality, 5 were moderate quality, and 1 was high quality. For the one randomized controlled trial, the overall bias risk was low. The most concerning EIMs were dermatological manifestations, rheumatologic manifestations, and others, such as primary sclerosing cholangitis, autoimmune hepatitis, uveitis, and Takayasu arteritis. After administering doses of 5-20 mg/d TOF, the included studies reported varying degrees of clinical remission for both the primary disease and EIMs, except for musculoskeletal EIMs.

CONCLUSION

TOF might benefit EIMs in IBD, especially ulcerative colitis, and elevated dosages and longer treatment times may increase its effectiveness. Manifestation-specific results and large prospective studies are highly warranted.