Preface

The treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has posed a major challenge since its appearance. Biomedical researchers, physicians, gastroenterologists, and surgeons have struggled to improve the quality of life of their patients and have sought, above all else, to keep the disease under remission for as long as possible. Blockers for tumoral necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were the first biological drugs to be discovered and for this reason they played a crucial role in the subsequent evolution of IBD treatment. The aim of this book is to provide an overview of such drugs and the latest developments in IBD immunopathology. Our contributors discuss the main indications, efficacy, and possible side effects of the different types of drugs available today for IBD treatment.

The book is divided into four parts. Section 1 deals with the immunopathological aspects of IBD with a special focus, in the second chapter, on the pathogenic role of TNF-α. Section 2 contains a single chapter with a critical assessment of corticoids and immunosuppressants, which preceded biological therapy. Section 3 discusses anti-TNF-α therapy in its general aspects of indication and action mechanisms. More specifically, it also deals with practical aspects concerning measures that should be taken before initiating biological therapy and indications for surgery. Lastly, Section 4 examines new types of biological therapy that have come after anti-TNF-α and that are now available in most countries around the world.

We hope that the reader will find this book to be a practical and concise resource on the clinical treatment of IBD that is also helpful in daily clinical practice. I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Tristan Torriani, co-editor of this book, for his assistance in the linguistic revision of the chapters, and also to Ms. Katarina Pausic for her attentive work throughout the planning and editing process.

**II**

**Section 4**

Anti-Integrin, Anti-p40 Subunit and JAK Inhibitor Therapies **113**

**Chapter 7 115**

Anti-Integrins, Anti-Interleukin 12/23p40, and JAK Inhibitors for

*by Karine Mariane Steigleder, Fernando Lopes Ponte Neto, Cristiane Kibune Nagasako and Raquel Franco Leal*

the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment

**Raquel Franco Leal** Professor, Associate Professor of Surgery Department, Colorectal Surgery Unit, Coordinator of the IBD Research Laboratory, School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, Brazil

> **Tristan Torriani** Professor, Assistant Professor, School of Applied Sciences, Limeira Campus, University of Campinas, Brazil

**1**

Section 1

Immunopathological Aspects

Section 1
