Enhancing Oral 5-ASA Effectiveness in Mild-to-Moderate Ulcerative Colitis through an H. erinaceus -Based Nutraceutical Add-on Multi-Compound: The "HERICIUM-UC" Two-Arm Multicentre Retrospective Study

• Published in: Pharmaceutics 2024-08, Vol.16 (9), p.1133
• Main Authors: Tursi, Antonio, D'Avino, Alessandro, Brandimarte, Giovanni, Mocci, Giammarco, Pellegrino, Raffaele, Savarino, Edoardo Vincenzo, Gravina, Antonietta Gerarda, The Hericium-Uc Study Group
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 5-ASA; Body mass index; Functional foods; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; Health aspects; Hericium erinaceus; Immunosuppressive agents; Inflammatory bowel disease; Medical records; nutraceuticals; Patients; Pharmaceutical industry; Prebiotics; probiotics; Remission (Medicine); Steroids; Ulcerative colitis; Vitamin B
• ISSN: 1999-4923; 1999-4923
• DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16091133

Mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis (UC) management is centred on 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) derivatives. Whether supplementing 5-ASA with nutraceuticals can provide real advantages in UC-relevant outcomes is unclear. This retrospective multicentre study compared clinical remission, response rates, and faecal calprotectin levels in a two-arm design, including patients treated with 5-ASA alone and those with additional -based multi-compound supplementation. In the 5-ASA alone group, clinical response rates were 41% at three months (T ) and 60.2% at six months (T ), while corresponding clinical remission rates were 16.9% and 36.1%. In the nutraceutical supplementation group, clinical response rates were 49.6% (T ) and 70.4% (T ), with clinical remission rates of 30.4% (T ) and 50.9% (T ). No significant differences in clinical response rates between the groups at T ( = 0.231) and T ( = 0.143) emerged. Clinical remission rates differed significantly at both time points ( = 0.029 and = 0.042, respectively). Faecal calprotectin levels decreased significantly in both groups during the retrospective follow-up ( < 0.05), and this was more pronounced in nutraceutical supplementation patients at both T ( = 0.005) and T ( = 0.01). No adverse events were reported. This multi-component nutraceutical supplementation offers real-world potential in controlling disease activity in patients with mild-to-moderate UC.