Use of IBD Drugs in Patients With Hepatobiliary Comorbidities: Tips and Tricks

Abstract

Advanced therapies (biologic agents and small molecules) for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have radically changed the management of these diseases during the last decade. Data about these drugs in patients with hepatic disorders derive mainly from real-life studies, as these conditions often represent an exclusion criterion from pivotal drug developmental trials. However, IBD patients sometimes have concomitant liver diseases. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most prevalent hepatic comorbidity, whereas viral hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cholangitis, autoimmune hepatitis, and hepatic vascular disorders are less frequent. This review aimed at describing the real-life data about the use of advanced therapies for IBD in patients with concomitant hepatobiliary disorders. Hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections do not represent an absolute contraindication for novel IBD therapeutic agents. Data from the literature suggest a safe hepatobiliary profile of biologic agents and small molecules in the case of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, autoimmune hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cholangitis, and portal vein thrombosis. Consequently, although the liver disease does not affect a different therapeutic approach in patients with concomitant IBD and liver disease, a close risk/benefit analysis for each drug should be performed in these patients, especially in cirrhotic patients and in the postliver transplant setting.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; biologic therapy; inflammatory bowel diseases; liver toxicity; small molecules; ulcerative colitis.