Budesonide Effective In Crohn's Disease

According to two trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine (September 29), the corticosteroid budesonide (currently marketed as Pulmicort by Astra for the prophylaxis of asthma) is effective in the treatment of Crohn's disease and has fewer associated side effects than corticosteroids such as prednisolone.

In the first trial, a randomized, double-blind 258-patient study, patients were assigned to receive either placebo or one of three doses of budesonide - 3mg, 9mg, or 15mg daily. The primary outcome for the study was clinical remission, as defined by a score of 150 or less on the Crohn's disease activity index.

After eight weeks of treatment, remission occurred in 51% of patients in the group receiving 9mg of budesonide, 43% of those receiving 15mg, and 33% of those receiving 3mg, as compared with 20% of those receiving placebo. Improvements in the quality of life, as measured by the patients' responses to the inflammatory bowel disease questionaire, included as part of the study, paralleled the remission rates.