Visceral fat is the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease and is associated with disease status.
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the visceral fat on mucosal healing in patients with Crohn's disease after infliximab induction therapy DESIGN:: This was a retrospective study.
The study was conducted in a tertiary referral hospital.
Between 2011 and 2017, 97 patients with Crohn's disease with the presence of ulcers underwent infliximab therapy.
We studied them retrospectively. Mucosal healing was the end point. Patients composed 2 groups: mucosal healing and no mucosal healing. Univariate, multivariate, and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses determined the predictive value of the visceral fat area.
Univariate analysis showed a statistically significant difference in the smoking history between the groups. Mucosal healing rates after infliximab were lower among active smokers (p = 0.022). Healed patients had significantly less visceral fat area before therapy (47.76 ± 4.94 vs 75.88 ± 5.55; p = 0.000) and a lower mesenteric fat index (0.52 ± 0.04 vs 0.89 ± 0.07; p = 0.000). There was no significant difference in the subcutaneous fat area (87.39 ± 5.01 vs 93.31 ± 6.95; p = 0.500). Multivariate analysis showed that only visceral fat area (OR = 0.978 (95% CI, 0.964-0.992); p = 0.002) and smoking history (OR = 0.305 (95% CI, 0.089-0.996); p = 0.041) were independent factors for mucosal healing. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed predictive cutoff values of 61.5 cm and 0.62 for visceral fat area and mesenteric fat index.
This was a retrospective study.
There was an association between increased visceral fat area and attenuated mucosal healing after infliximab therapy in biologically naive patients with Crohn's disease, indicating a need for earlier increased infliximab doses among patients with increased visceral fat. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A590.