Enteric-Coated Budesonide for the Induction and Maintenance of Remission of Crohn\u27s Disease in Children

OBJECTIVE: These studies evaluated the safety and efficacy of enteric-coated budesonide for the induction and maintenance of remission of mild-to-moderate Crohn\u27s disease (CD) in children. METHODS: The consecutive, multicenter, open-label, non-comparative studies enrolled patients aged 6-17 years. In the induction study, patients with active CD of the ileum and/or ascending colon received budesonide 9 mg or 6 mg once daily for 8 weeks; in the maintenance study, patients in remission received budesonide 6 mg once daily for 12 weeks. The primary objective was assessment of safety, including glucocorticosteroid-related side effects and serum cortisol levels. Efficacy was assessed using the Pediatric Crohn\u27s Disease Activity Index (PCDAI), and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) using the IMPACT-III questionnaire. RESULTS: In the induction study (n = 108), most adverse events were related to CD, commonly abdominal pain; possible glucocorticosteroid-related effects included acne and increased appetite but without significant weight gain. Subnormal morning cortisol levels were observed in 32 of 103 patients after 8 weeks. Budesonide reduced disease activity from baseline (mean ± standard deviation, 9.1 ± 8.5 vs. 19.1 ± 10.1, p \u3c .001) with 58.1% of patients reaching remission (PCDAI CONCLUSIONS: Budesonide treatment was generally well tolerated, although the potential for adrenal suppression was noted. Budesonide was effective for induction of remission in children with mild-to-moderate CD but not for maintaining remission (ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: NCT01444092, NCT01453946)