A new study followed a patient with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and associated ulcerative colitis (UC) who was started on 500 mg of oral vancomycin twice daily because he could not achieve remission of his UC on advanced therapies. Three months after starting oral vancomycin, the patient achieved clinical remission. Six months after treatment, a repeat colonoscopy showed complete endoscopic healing. The data regarding the use of oral vancomycin to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in connection with PSC are sparse, but few reports have shown similar encouraging results to this case.
The authors concluded that while further study is needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of long-term use of oral vancomycin in PSC-IBD, it remains a viable treatment option to consider.
Almomen HS, Al-Bawardy B. Oral Vancomycin Induced and Maintained Clinical and Endoscopic Remission in Ulcerative Colitis and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Post-liver Transplantation. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2023 May 2;29(5):837-838. doi: 10.1093/ibd/izad040. PMID: 36888548.
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