Title
Clinical features and outcomes of cytomegalovirus colitis in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Authors
Duaa Bakheet1, Mohammed S. Alqarni2, Ahmad Atiah Alsolmi2, Marwan Naif Alsehli2, Baraa Talal Melibari3, Mohammed Almutairi2, Lama I Basunbul2, Hadeel Mohammed Mushafa2, Mohammed S. Alzahrani1 & Hadeel Altayib4,*
Affiliation
1Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Infectious Diseases, Alnoor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Infection Prevention and Control, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; *Corresponding author
Duaa Bakheet - E-mail: duaa.abakheet@gmail.com
Mohammed S. Alqarni - E-mail: e4a1@hotmail.com
Ahmad Atiah Alsolmi - E-mail: iahmad.alsulami@gmail.com
Marwan Naif Alsehli - E-mail: marwan.unv@gmail.com
Lama I Basunbul - E-mail: lama.basunbul@gmail.com
Mohammed Almutairi - E-mail: almutaiiiri.m@gmail.com
Hadeel Mohammed Mushafa - E-mail: hadeel.m1997@gmail.com
Baraa Talal Melibari - E-mail: baraa_melibari@hotmail.com
Mohammed S. Alzahrani - E-mail: mzahrani@gmail.com
Hadeel Altayib - E-mail: hadeel.altayib@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received August 1, 2026; Revised August 31, 2026; Accepted August 31, 2026, Published August 31, 2026
Abstract
Cytomegalovirus infection is clinically important in inflammatory bowel disease, but data from the Middle Eastern population are still lacking. This retrospective cross-sectional investigation examined adult patients (≥18 years) treated at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from January 2014 to December 2023 with confirmed CMV colitis and underlying IBD. UC was more common than CD (56.5% vs 43.5%) and pancolitis was the most common illness distribution (52.2%). Deep ulceration was the most prevalent endoscopic finding (60.9%). Most patients (65.2%) received corticosteroids, 26.1% were steroid-refractory. Tissue CMV PCR was positive in 60.9% of patients and serum in 21.7%. Sixteen patients (69.6%) received antiviral therapy. Clinical remission occurred in 81.25% (13/16) of treated individuals. CMV colitis is a serious IBD complication, especially in long-term immunosuppressive patients. Thus, tissue-based diagnostic approaches, especially CMV PCR, detect active infection better than serological assays.
Keywords
Antiviral therapy, CMV reactivation, Crohn’s disease (CD), Cytomegalovirus colitis, immunosuppression, inflammatory bowel disease, steroid-refractory colitis, ulcerative colitis (UC)
Citation
Bakheet et al. Bioinformation 22(8): 4827-4833 (2026)
Edited by
P Kangueane
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
