Adalimumab for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, disabling condition with increasing prevalence throughout the world. Although the etiology of IBD is not well understood, it is characterized by a disproportionate inflammatory response in the gut that leads to tissue damage and clinical symptoms. Over the past decade, the development of biologic therapies that target the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha in the inflammatory cascade has markedly revolutionized the treatment of IBD. Adalimumab, one of the three available anti-TNF agents, has been shown to effectively induce and maintain remission in patients with Crohn's disease. More recently, data has been published demonstrating the efficacy of adalimumab in patients with ulcerative colitis.