Various factors affecting the achievement of the optimal trough level were compared between the achievement and non-achievement groups. A univariate analysis was done first, followed by a multivariate analysis for items with P < 0.25. The remission rate after 4 weeks

was compared between the Exp and Non-Exp groups. In our hospital, subjective and objective findings needed for the disease activity index (DAI, also known as the “Sutherland index”)[16] or other activity VX-770 solubility dmso indices are entered in electronic medical records daily for hospitalized UC patients, and blood tests are performed at least once a week. For severe colitis, blood tests are usually checked twice per week. Thus, the DAI score can be calculated accurately even retrospectively. In this study, the DAI entered in patients’ medical records was used to evaluate selleck inhibitor activity. However, because all patients did not undergo endoscopy 4 weeks after the start of therapy,

a partial DAI (pDAI) score excluding the endoscopic subscore was used to define remission. Patients with pDAI ≤ 1 were defined as in remission, and patients with other scores and patients who underwent surgery within 4 weeks after the start of therapy were defined as being in non-remission. The frequency and types of adverse effects were investigated. When Tac is used in patients aged 60 years or older in our hospital, cotrimoxazole is administered at the usual dosage with the aim of preventing Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). An unpaired t-test was used to test for differences in mean values, and the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was used to compare frequencies. Multivariate analysis was used to analyze factors involved in achieving the optimal trough levels. All statistical analyses were done using SPSS ver. 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Written, informed consent was obtained from all subjects. This study was approved by the ethical review board of Fukuoka University. The subjects in this study MCE were 25 men and 21 women with a mean age of 40.9 ± 13.8 years and

a mean duration of disease of 4.9 ± 5.2 years. The DAI score on day 0 of Tac was 10.9 ± 1.2, and the pDAI score was 7.8 ± 1.2. Pretreatments involved steroid therapy in 35 patients, accounting for 78% of all cases. Of these 35 patients, 25 received intravenous steroids, and the remaining 10 took oral steroids. Other treatments were cytapheresis in six patients, cyclosporine A (CyA) and infliximab in one patient each, and 5-aminosalicylic acid with an immunomodulator in two patients. Fasting management with total parenteral nutrition was selected in 22 patients, which corresponded to about half of the 45 patients in this study. Hydrocortisone was administered intravenously in 20 of these 22 patients, the large majority.