We thank Macaluso et al for their comments about our study on methotrexate in steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis (UC).1 In this trial, parenteral methotrexate was not superior to placebo, using a composite primary endpoint consisting of clinical and endoscopic remission, and complete steroid withdrawal at week 16. However, there were several positive findings in this trial: methotrexate was superior to placebo for inducing clinical remission without steroids at week 16 (a prespecified secondary endpoint) and in a post hoc analysis, a higher rate of treatment discontinuation for UC activity was observed in the placebo arm, than in the methotrexate arm.