Contributions of HLA haplotypes, IL8 level and Toxoplasma gondii infection in defining celiac disease's phenotypes.

Background: It is not clear why some patients with coeliac disease (CD) present with severe symptoms and small intestinal mucosal damages while others present with milder symptoms and no frank enteropathy. There is no study to assess the associated factors with mild/severe symptoms and enteropathy. The terminologies like latent, silent and potential are difficult to use and are unrepresentative.

Immunogenetic Pathogenesis of Celiac Disease and Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity.

Celiac disease is the most common oral intolerance in Western countries. It results from an immune response towards gluten proteins from certain cereals in genetically predisposed individuals (HLA-DQ2 and/or HLA-DQ8). Its pathogenesis involves the adaptive (HLA molecules, transglutaminase 2, dendritic cells, and CD4(+) T-cells) and the innate immunity with an IL-15-mediated response elicited in the intraepithelial compartment.

Segmental pneumatosis cystoides coli: computed tomography-facilitated diagnosis.

Intestinal pneumatosis is a rare entity of unclear etiopathogenesis characterized by the presence of gaseous cystic or linear collections within the intestinal wall. Intestinal pneumatosis may be primary and idiopathic in origin or, more frequently, it accompanies various clinical conditions. Rarely, the development of intestinal pneumatosis is attributed to the pharmacotherapy with different drugs.

Central America in Transition: From Maize to Wheat Challenges and Opportunities.

The Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama are in transition from a dietary culture based mainly on maize to a wheat-containing diet. Several other changes are occurring, such as a decrease of parasitic and infectious diseases. The environmental changes permit a prediction of an increase of celiac disease and other autoimmune diseases such as type I diabetes and thyroid disease in these genetically heterogeneous countries.

Abdominal splenosis.

Splenosis is a benign condition caused by an ectopic autotransplantation of splenic tissues after splenic trauma or surgery. It usually occurs within the abdominal and pelvic cavity. Patients are generally asymptomatic and this entity is diagnosed accidentally.

Effect of B vitamin supplementation on plasma homocysteine levels in celiac disease.

Aim: To investigate the effect of vitamin supplements on homocysteine levels in patients with celiac disease.

Methods: Vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, and fasting plasma homocysteine levels were measured in 51 consecutive adults with celiac disease [median (range) age 56 (18-63) years; 40% men, 26 (51%) had villous atrophy, and 25 (49%) used B-vitamin supplements] and 50 healthy control individuals matched for age and sex. Finally, the C677T polymorphism of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) was evaluated in 46 patients with celiac disease and all control individuals.

Indications and challenges of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics in the management of arthralgias and spondyloarthropathies in inflammatory bowel disease.

Arthralgia and spondyloarthropathy of the peripheral and the axial joints are common in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. Evidence for this association has been provided by clinical, epidemiologic, and immunologic studies confirming the presence of shared inflammatory pathways in gut and joint. Bacterial gut infections such as Salmonella typhimurium, Yersinia enterocolitica, Shigella, Campylobacter jejuni may induce reactive peripheral arthritis and 20% of these patients may develop chronic spondyloarthropathy.

Retrospective analysis of old-age colitis in the Dutch inflammatory bowel disease population.

Aim: To describe the characteristics of Dutch patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) first diagnosed above 60 years of age-a disease also known as old-age colitis (OAC) and to highlight a condition that has a similar appearance to IBD, namely segmental colitis associated with diverticular disease (SCAD).

Methods: A retrospective longitudinal survey of patient demographic and clinical characteristics, disease characteristics, diagnostic methods, management and course of disease was performed. The median follow-up period was 10 years.

N-acetyl-L-cysteine combined with mesalamine in the treatment of ulcerative colitis: randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study.

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of oral N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) co-administration with mesalamine in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients.

Methods: Thirty seven patients with mild to moderate UC were randomized to receive a four-wk course of oral mesalamine (2.4 g/d) plus N-acetyl-L-cysteine (0.

Coeliac disease in Dutch patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and vice versa.

Aim: To define the association between Hashimoto's thyroiditis and coeliac disease in Dutch patients.

Methods: A total of 104 consecutive patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis underwent coeliac serological tests (antigliadins, transglutaminase and endomysium antibodies) and HLA-DQ typing. Small intestinal biopsy was performed when any of coeliac serological tests was positive.

Evaluation of oral budesonide in the treatment of active distal ulcerative colitis.

Budesonide, a topical corticosteroid, has proven useful for the management of Crohn's disease. Its efficacy is similar to prednisone but it has fewer side effects. A new pH-modified release capsule (Budenofalk) is probably efficacious in distal ulcerative colitis.

Reviewing the mechanism of action of thiopurine drugs: towards a new paradigm in clinical practice.

The precise mechanism of action of thiopurine drugs remains unclear despite more than 40 years of use. Recent knowledge in the field of apoptosis and a better insight into, as well as a rapid increase in their use in several important areas of clinical medicine justify this appraisal. This is a review of the recent advances in the knowledge of their mechanism of action and is primarily intended to help clinicians understand the pharmacological properties of these drugs adequately and to find ways to improve their use in clinical practice.

The therapeutic spectrum of infliximab and tumor necrosis factor immunomodulation in chronic inflammatory diseases.

This review summarizes the clinical results of Infliximab for the treatment of Crohn's disease, the limited data of its use in other digestive disorders and disorders related to the gastrointestinal tract. The etiology of these disorders remains enigmatic. As long as the precise etiology remains unknown, therapeutic options to treat these patients are predominantly symptomatic (i.