First trough level of infliximab at week 2 predicts future outcomes of induction therapy in ulcerative colitis—results from a multicenter prospective randomized controlled trial and its post hoc analysis

Abstract
Infliximab (IFX) is one of the treatments of choice for corticosteroid-refractory and corticosteroid-dependent ulcerative colitis (UC). A high serum trough level of IFX (TL) is reported to be associated with sustained efficacy during maintenance treatment. As part of a phase 3 randomized controlled trial of IFX in UC, we assessed the predictive value of the first TL at week 2 for short- and long-term response.