Drug Repurposing in Crohn's Disease Using Danish Real-World Data

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Pharmacology
• Data Science

Background:

• Intestinal fibrosis is a severe complication of Crohn's disease (CD) lacking effective pharmacological treatments.
• Drug repurposing using electronic healthcare records (EHRs) offers a novel therapeutic avenue.
• Identifying medications influencing fibrosis risk is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify existing medications associated with reduced or elevated risk of intestinal fibrosis in CD patients.
• To leverage real-world data and artificial intelligence for drug repurposing strategies.
• To address the unmet medical need for pharmacological interventions in CD-related intestinal fibrosis.

Main Methods:

• Population-wide analysis of Danish EHRs (1996-2019) including patients aged 65+ with CD.
• Utilized surgical procedures (proctocolectomy, ileocecal resection) as proxies for intestinal fibrosis.
• Employed machine-learning driven survival analysis to identify drug-outcome associations.

Main Results:

• Out of 9179 CD patients, 10.2% required surgery for intestinal fibrosis.
• Ten drugs were linked to an increased risk of surgery.
• Ten drugs were associated with a reduced risk of surgery.

Conclusions:

• Drug repurposing holds promise for preventing surgery in CD patients with intestinal fibrosis.
• The identified drugs warrant further investigation and clinical trials.
• This study highlights the potential of real-world data and AI in discovering new therapeutic uses for existing medications.