Cytokine expression in gingival and intestinal tissues of patients with periodontitis and inflammatory bowel disease: An exploratory study.

Objective: To evaluate the expression of the cytokines IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-21, IL-22, IL-23, IL-25, IL-31, IL-33, IL-17A, IL-17F, sCD40L, and TNF-α in gingival tissue and intestinal mucosa of patients having both periodontitis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and assess how they cluster in both tissues.

Methods: This cross-sectional study selected 28 patients with periodontitis (18 with Crohn's disease and 10 with ulcerative colitis) from the IBD gastroenterology outpatient clinic at the Pedro Ernesto University Hospital. Patients were assessed using questionnaire, medical chart check and periodontal examination.

The in vitro generation of lung and airway progenitor cells from human pluripotent stem cells.

Lung and airway epithelial cells generated in vitro from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have applications in regenerative medicine, modeling of lung disease, drug screening and studies of human lung development. Here we describe a strategy for directed differentiation of hPSCs into developmental lung progenitors, and their subsequent differentiation into predominantly distal lung epithelial cells. The protocol entails four stages that recapitulate lung development, and it takes ∼50 d.

Multiple sclerosis and motherhood choice: an observational study in Portuguese women patients.

INTRODUCTION. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disabling disease occurring mainly in women of childbearing age. MS may interfere with family planning and motherhood decision.

Multiple sclerosis treatment with natalizumab: analysis of a hospital-based cohort.

Introduction: Natalizumab is licensed as monotherapy for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Since pivotal studies showing natalizumab efficacy, several subsequent studies confirmed the reduction in annualized relapse rate and the slowing of disability progression. Nevertheless, 'real-world' data, namely in Portugal, are still scarce.

Multiple sclerosis and oligodendroglioma: an exceptional association.

The cooccurrence of multiple sclerosis (MS) and oligodendroglioma is very rare. We present a 43-year-old male patient with the diagnosis of MS lasting for 14 years who developed seizures and right hemiparesis; cerebral MRI revealed an already known extensive lesion, previously misdiagnosed as tumefactive demyelinating lesion. Cerebral biopsy leads to oligodendroglioma diagnosis, successfully treated with radiotherapy.

Multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphisms may determine Crohn's disease behavior in patients from Rio de Janeiro.

Objectives: Conflicting data from studies on the potential role of multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphisms in inflammatory bowel disease may result from the analysis of genetically and geographically distinct populations. Here, we investigated whether multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphisms are associated with inflammatory bowel diseases in patients from Rio de Janeiro.

Methods: We analyzed 123 Crohn's disease patients and 83 ulcerative colitis patients to determine the presence of the multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphisms C1236T, G2677T and C3435T.

Thiopurine-methyltransferase variants in inflammatory bowel disease: prevalence and toxicity in Brazilian patients.

Aim: To analyze the prevalence of thiopurine-methyltransferase (TPMT) genotypes and their association with drug toxicity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients from southeastern Brazil.

Methods: A total of 219 consecutive patients with IBD, of which 146 had Crohn's disease and 73 had ulcerative colitis, regularly seen at the outpatient unit of the Division of Gastroenterology at the University Hospital Pedro Ernesto of the State University of Rio de Janeiro, a tertiary referral center, were enrolled in this study from February 2009 to January 2011. We analyzed the presence of major TPMT genetic variants (TPMT 2, 3A, 3C) in IBD patients by means of a specific allele and RFLP-PCR.

Investigation of genetic polymorphisms related to the outcome of radiotherapy for prostate cancer patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between ATM, TP53 and MDM2 polymorphisms in prostate cancer patients and morbidity after radiotherapy. The presence of ATM (rs1801516), TP53 (rs1042522, rs1800371, rs17878362, rs17883323, and rs35117667), and MDM2 (rs2279744) polymorphisms was assessed by direct sequencing of PCR fragments from 48 patients with histologically proven prostate adenocarcinoma and treated with external beam radiation. The side effects were classified according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) score.

Switching and escalating therapy in long-lasting multiple sclerosis: not always necessary.

Although therapy switch is common among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), sometimes the initial prescribed treatment is maintained for a long period with clinical stability, low disability, and nonsignificant side effects. We aim to describe demographic and clinical characteristics of patients treated in our MS clinic with the same disease-modifying drug (DMD) lasting for >12 years. From the cohort of 51 patients followed in our MS clinic with relapse-remitting MS who started an DMD between 1996 and 1999, we found a high percentage (51%) of patients who were efficiently treated with the first DMD.

Subgingival microflora in inflammatory bowel disease patients with untreated periodontitis.

Objective: To analyze the subgingival microflora composition of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients with untreated chronic periodontitis and compare them with systemically healthy controls also having untreated chronic periodontitis.

Method: Thirty IBD patients [15 with Crohn's disease (CD) and 15 with ulcerative colitis (UC)] and 15 control individuals participated in the study. All patients had been diagnosed with untreated chronic periodontitis.

Analysis of mutations in TP53, APC, K-ras, and DCC genes in the non-dysplastic mucosa of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background And Aims: Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) have a high risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). To understand the molecular basis of colitis-associated CRC, we analyzed alterations in TP53, APC, K-ras, and DCC genes in the non-dysplastic UC and CD colon.

Materials And Methods: Endoscopic biopsies were collected from six predefined colon sites of 35 UC and 12 CD patients for DNA extraction and genetic analysis.

Prevalence of periodontitis and DMFT index in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Aim: To compare the prevalence of periodontal disease and the decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) with those without these diseases.

Material And Methods: Ninety-nine CD (39.0 SD+/-12.

Therapeutic and prophylactic thalidomide in TNBS-induced colitis: synergistic effects on TNF-alpha, IL-12 and VEGF production.

Aim: To evaluated the therapeutic and prophylactic effect of thalidomide on 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis. Thalidomide has been reported to downregulate the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-12, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hallmarks of intestinal inflammation in Crohnos disease (CD).

Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided in five groups of ten animals each.

Small bowel of patients with asthma and allergic rhinitis: absence of inflammation despite the presence of major cellular components of allergic inflammation.

Eosinophils participate in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract and the gut. We investigated the constitutive presence of eosinophils and mononuclear cells in the macroscopically normal duodenal mucosa of patients with asthma and allergic rhinitis. Macroscopically normal duodenal specimens were obtained at routine endoscopy for upper gastrointestinal symptoms from 16 patients with asthma and 13 patients with allergic rhinitis.

Apoptosis in the intestinal mucosa of patients with inflammatory bowel disease: evidence of altered expression of FasL and perforin cytotoxic pathways.

Background And Aims: Abnormal apoptosis may result in the persistence of activated intestinal T-cells in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We investigated apoptosis in distinct mucosal compartments, and the expression of Fas/Fas ligand and perforin in the inflamed and non-inflamed intestinal mucosa of patients with IBD.

Methods: Colon specimens from 15 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and inflamed and non-inflamed mucosa from 15 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) were analysed for densities and distribution of apoptotic cells determined by the terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUDP-biotin nick-end labelling (TUNEL) method.

Immunohistochemical study of intestinal eosinophils in inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Eosinophil accumulation and activation are characteristic features of inflammation in allergic diseases and in host defense against parasites.

Goals: To investigate the involvement of eosinophils in inflamed and noninflamed mucosa of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Study: Specimens of inflamed colonic mucosa from 15 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and inflamed and noninflamed colonic mucosa from 15 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) were submitted to histologic and immunohistochemical studies.