CurQD as Add-On Therapy in Vedolizumab-Treated Ulcerative Colitis Patients: Retrospective Cohort Study

Curcumin and QingDai, (Indigo, QD) are two herbal traditional medicine compounds which have been investigated for their use in mild-moderate and moderate-severe UC, respectively. A combination of Curcumin and QD (CurQD), which was developed at Sheba Medical Center to maximize clinical efficacy while reducing long-term high-dose QD exposure, has been used in clinical practice in Israel since 2015 and has gained wide acceptance by UC patients and IBD experts [1,2]. In two multi-center retrospective studies, CurQD was found effective in inducing clinical and biomarker remission in both adult and pediatric patients, including in patients who were refractory to biologic and/or small molecules [3,4], and recent evidence from a pediatric cohort in the U.S also documented intestinal sonographic response to CurQD [5]. In a placebo-controlled randomized trial from Israel and Greece, CurQD was found superior to placebo in inducing and maintaining clinical and endoscopic remission without any safety signals [6,7]. Moreover, the study also showed the active compounds in CurQD exerts agonistic up-regulation of Aryl-hydrocarbon Receptor pathway in the rectal mucosa [6], supporting its unique non-immunosuppressive mode-of-action. Subsequently, CurQD has been increasingly used by IBD experts in academic centers in the USA and elsewhere as Add-on therapy in patients with partial or non-response to biologics and/or small molecules medications. Recently, CurQD became the first and only nutraceutical to date to pass the CCFA Ingestible committee examination of supporting clinical and scientific data to allow its endorsement by the CCFA. Collectively, these data provide the rationale for exploring large scale population-based impact of combining CurQD with a biologic.

The present retrospective cohort study will interrogate the Evinature GDPR HIPAA compliant database to identify patients who started CurQD while being treated with VDZ. The study will investigate the clinical benefit of adding CurQD in combination with VDZ, in patients partially responding or not-responding to VDZ.

Inclusion criteria

• Age >8 years
• Diagnosis of ulcerative colitis (self-reported)
• Completed Evinature clinical assessment between April 1, 2022, and cutoff date
• Vedolizumab treatment at baseline
• Active disease at entry (SCCAI ≥3 or PRO-2 ≥2 with RB ≥1)
• Initiated CurQD at entry

Exclusion criteria

• Vedolizumab for indications other than UC
• Unclear medication status at baseline
• Not active disease when starting CurQD