Study on the prognosis of patients with remitting ulcerative colitis after discontinuation of indigo naturalis

Indigo naturalis(IN) has been shown to be an effective treatment for ulcerative colitis.
However, its long-term use can lead to adverse effects, including pulmonary hypertension. The prognosis of patients with ulcerative colitis(UC) who discontinue IN following induction therapy remains unclear. Furthermore, the clinical characteristics of patients who experience early relapse after stopping IN are not well understood.
Therefore, we conducted the study to clarify the clinical outcomes of patients with UC after discontinuing IN and possible markers associated with early relapse. In this single-center, retrospective study, we followed 72 patients who achieved a clinical response 8 weeks after treatment with IN. We observed relapse in patients with ulcerative colitis after the discontinuation of IN and analyzed the factors that could predict long-term outcomes following discontinuation of IN. As a result, relapse occurred in 67% of patients at 52 weeks , but no markers could predict relapse in patients within 52 weeks following the discontinuation of IN. The relapse rate for ulcerative colitis after discontinuing IN was high, highlighting the need for continued treatment and monitoring after discontinuation in these patients. The high relapse rate emphasizes the importance of additional maintenance therapy for patients following the discontinuation of IN. We will present the report with additional results.