Blood-based biomarkers used to predict disease activity in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Background: Identifying specific genes that are differentially expressed during inflammatory bowel disease flares may help stratify disease activity. The aim of this study was to identify panels of genes to be able to distinguish disease activity in Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).

Methods: Patients were grouped into categories based on disease and severity determined by histological grading.

Immunohistochemistry using the BRAF V600E mutation-specific monoclonal antibody VE1 is not a useful surrogate for genotyping in colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Aims: The presence of a BRAF mutation is a strong marker for poor prognosis of colorectal carcinoma (CRC), and can be used as evidence of a sporadic mechanism of mismatch repair deficiency. BRAF mutation may also predict resistance to EGFR-targeted therapy. A BRAF V600E-specific antibody has recently become commercially available.

Prevalence of cystoid macular edema and stability in oct retinal thickness in eyes with retinitis pigmentosa during a 48-week lutein trial.

Purpose: To describe, in a group of patients with moderately advanced retinitis pigmentosa (RP), the prevalence of cystoid macular edema (CME), the variation in foveal thickness over a 48-week period, the correlation of visual acuity (VA) with retinal thickness, and the lack of response of CME to lutein administration.

Methods: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of the macula and clinical examination were evaluated for 77 eyes of 39 patients with RP over 11 months, with a scan done every 6 weeks.

Results: The prevalence of CME, defined by cysts visible on OCT, was 49%.