Abstract

Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are two types of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) diagnosed by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal system. Despite being the gold standard for assessing the therapeutic response to biological medicines like infliximab and disease activity in IBD patients, endoscopy’s widespread use is limited by its time-consuming, expensive, and intrusive nature. This prospective case-control study was performed at Ain Shams University School of Medicine Hospital to examine the clinical utility of serum oncostatin M (OSM) as a biomarker for disease activity and response to infliximab in Egyptian IBD patients. It included 72 IBD patients (19 CD, 53 UC) and 29 controls. Patients were divided into three groups to investigate the connection between disease activity and OSM levels. To analyze the connection between OSM expression and clinical response, 36 IBD patients (22 with UC and 14 with CD) receiving infliximab maintenance were enrolled. All patients were subjected to comprehensive medical history, clinical evaluation, endoscopies, and detection of serum OSM levels. Of the 36 IBD patients, 18 patients responded to infliximab treatment, while the other 18 patients did not. The results demonstrated that, in comparison to controls, patients with IBD had higher levels of serum OSM expression. Serum OSM levels in IBD patients showed a positive association with disease activity. Individuals with moderate-to-severe UC and active CD had considerably elevated levels compared to those in remission. In conclusion, serum OSM showed as a promising biomarker for managing individuals with IBD, it was substantially expressed and positively connected with the severity of the disease. Infliximab non-response was linked to elevated OSM levels.

Keywords:
Serum Oncostatin M, Infliximab Response, Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Date received:
23 July 2025; accepted: 06 October 2025

PMID:
000000000