A retrospective observational study of early experiences of vedolizumab treatment for inflammatory bowel disease in the UK: The REVIVE study

Results from clinical trials show that vedolizumab is an efficacious treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, namely Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). However, there is limited evidence from real-world clinical practice, especially on early clinical experiences in the UK.To describe real-world early experiences of vedolizumab to treat CD and UC in the UK.A retrospective, chart review study of patients with CD or UC treated with vedolizumab across 5 UK hospitals. All eligible adults (≥18 years at initiation) with a diagnosis of CD and ≥14 weeks of data or UC and ≥10 weeks of data available following vedolizumab initiation were included.Data were analyzed for 112 patients (CD: 66; UC: 46). Patients with CD had a median of 7.4 (interquartile range 5.7-9.4) months follow-up and patients with UC had a median of 7.4 (5.6-10.2) months follow-up post-vedolizumab initiation. Most patients, 80% (53/66) with CD and 89% (41/46) with UC, remained on vedolizumab treatment at the time of data collection. No new safety signals were identified during the study.These results add to the body of evidence supporting vedolizumab as an effective and well-tolerated treatment for CD and UC in real-world clinical practice.

Structure, composition and properties of naturally occurring non-calcified crustacean cuticle

Crustaceans are known for their hard, calcified exoskeleton; however some regions appear different in colour and opacity. These include leg and cheliped tips in the grapsid crab, Metopograpsus frontalis. The chelipeds and leg tips contain only trace levels of calcium but a significant mass of the halogens, chlorine (Cl) and bromine (Br). In contrast, the carapace is heavily calcified and contains only a trace mass of Cl and no Br. In transverse section across the non-calcified tip regions of cheliped and leg the mass percent of halogens varies with position. As such, the exoskeleton of M. frontalis provides a useful model to examine a possible correlation of halogen concentration with the physical properties of hardness (H) and reduced elastic modulus (E(r)), within a chitin-based matrix. Previously published work suggests a correlation exists between Cl concentration and hardness in similar tissues that contain a metal (e.g. zinc). However, in M. frontalis H and E(r) did not vary significantly across cheliped or leg tip despite differences in halogen concentration. The non-calcified regions of M. frontalis are less hard and less stiff than the carapace but equivalent to values found for insect cuticle lacking metals. Cheliped tips showed a complex morphological layering that differed from leg tips.