Clinical Pharmacology in Gastroenterology: Development of New Forms of Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Kinetic-dynamic aspects of the development of slow-release mesalazine, Pentasa (now an established treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)), and cyclosporin, a T cell selective immunosuppressant (still in the investigative phase), are reviewed as examples of Danish contributions at an early stage to international, clinical drug research. Apart from increasing the therapeutic options for patients with IBD, current and future studies with these (and other) drugs may add important clues to a more precise understanding of the basic pathogenetic mechanisms (e.g. cytokines, adhesion molecules) involved in these diseases. The future development and clinical implementation of novel drug designs in IBD and other gastrointestinal diseases may be expected to benefit from a continued or even closer collaboration between clinical gastroenterologists and basic reseach institutions, including the pharmaceutical industry at an early stage.

Key Words:

• Crohn's disease
• cyclosporin
• inflammatory bowel disease
• mesalazine
• ulcerative colitis