ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.

Sec. Clinical Nutrition

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1591954

This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment through Nutritional InterventionsView all 4 articles

The efficacy of infliximab combined with partial enteral nutrition in the treatment of Crohn's Disease: A cohort study

Provisionally accepted
Chen  HuangChen Huang1Chao  ChenChao Chen1Hao  WuHao Wu1Hanyu  YinHanyu Yin1Weixiang  YaoWeixiang Yao1Susu  BaiSusu Bai2Baixue  ZhuoBaixue Zhuo3Xiaoli  WuXiaoli Wu1*
  • 1First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 2Wencheng County People's Hospital, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 3Taishun People's Hospital, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The issue of loss of efficacy with infliximab (IFX) treatment in Crohn's disease (CD) significantly limits its clinical use. This study aims to investigate the role of therapy combined with partial enteral nutrition (PEN) in maintaining the efficacy of infliximab.Methods: Consecutive CD patients undergoing IFX for induction and maintenance therapy were included, with a follow-up period of at least 54 weeks and endoscopy performed around 54 weeks.Subsequent longitudinal monitoring evaluated improvements in the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) score at 14 weeks and endoscopic remission at 54 weeks.Results: Among the 176 included patients, 99 (56%) were in the IFX monotherapy group, and 77 (44%) were in the IFX+PEN group. A significantly higher proportion of patients in the IFX+PEN group achieved clinical response (defined as a CDAI decrease ≥70 points) compared to those in the IFX group at 14 weeks (87.01% vs. 74.75%, P = 0.043), as well as a higher proportion achieving endoscopic remission at 54 weeks (84.42% vs. 65.66%, P = 0.005). Meanwhile, combination therapy with PEN emerged as an independent protective predictor of endoscopic remission at 54 weeks in two multivariate-adjusted models, with ORs of 3.34 and 3.33, respectively (both P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis and interaction test results further supported that all CD patients can benefit from combination therapy with PEN Conclusion: Infliximab treatment combined with partial enteral nutrition is beneficial for both shortterm clinical response and long-term endoscopic remission in CD patients.

Keywords: Crohn's disease, infliximab, Partial enteral nutrition, clinical response, endoscopic remission, Safety

Received: 11 Mar 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Chen, Wu, Yin, Yao, Bai, Zhuo and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Xiaoli Wu, First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325000, Zhejiang Province, China

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