Cell-free whey from milk fermented with Bifidobacterium breve C50 used to modify the colonic microflora of healthy subjects.

The ingestion of viable bacteria is thought to be required to modify intestinal microflora. In the present study, the effects on fecal flora of consumption of cell-free concentrated whey from milk that had been fermented with Bifidobacterium breve C50 was tested using 10 healthy human volunteers. Results were compared with effects of a commercial milk formula that had been fermented with Streptococcus thermophilus and B.

Anticipation in familial Crohn's disease.

Background: Offspring with a family history of Crohn's disease have an earlier age of onset than their parents. This might be due to genetic anticipation, characterised by earlier and/or more severe disease in subsequent generations.

Aims: To investigate the possibility of genetic anticipation in affected parent-child pairs with Crohn's disease from France and Belgium.

Impact of surgery on quality of life in Crohn's disease.

Objective: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) status is an important component in assessing the impact of disease and its treatments in patients with chronic disorders. We recently validated a HRQOL questionnaire in French patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate prospectively the impact of surgery on HRQOL in patients operated on for Crohn's disease (CD).

Distinct cytokine patterns in early and chronic ileal lesions of Crohn's disease.

Background & Aims: Chronic intestinal lesions of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) are associated with a T helper (Th) 1-type cytokine profile, including high levels of interleukin 2 (IL-2) and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma). However, the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of the early mucosal lesions are poorly known. The aim of this study was to examine the pattern of Th1- and Th2-type (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) cytokines in the early ileal lesions occurring in patients with CD 3 months after ileal resection and ileocolonic anastomosis.

Fecal beta-D-galactosidase production and Bifidobacteria are decreased in Crohn's disease.

Digestive bacterial microflora play a major role in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD). Bacterial enzyme activities, especially beta-D-galactosidase, are decreased in fecal extracts from CD patients. We hypothesized that an alteration of the colonic flora might be responsible for this decrease.

Chronic pancreatitis: a complication of sarcoidosis?

Gastrointestinal localizations of sarcoidosis are rare. A total of 14 cases of pancreatic involvement in sarcoidosis has been reported previously. We report here a case of late onset idiopathic chronic pancreatitis diagnosed at the same time as sarcoidosis with liver, colonic, renal, mediastinal and neurologic involvement in a 56-year-old man.

["Metastatic" Crohn's disease of the penis].

Inflammatory genital cutaneous involvement of Crohn's disease is a rare complication. In a 23 year old man, who had colonic Crohn's disease treated by colectomy 3 years earlier, a phimosis revealed a penile localisation of Crohn's disease. "Metastatic" locations of Crohn's disease are defined by granulomas sitting at a distance from the injured bowel.

Clinical characteristics of Crohn's disease in 72 families.

Background & Aims: Familial aggregation argues for genetic susceptibility to Crohn's disease. The aim of this study was to compare the age of onset and the clinical features of Crohn's disease between patients with familial disease and those with sporadic disease and investigate the concordance for disease location and type among relatives with Crohn's disease.

Methods: Seventy-two families with 2 (n = 55), 3 (n = 8), 4 (n = 6), and 5 or more (n = 3) affected first-degree relatives were selected for the study.

Effect of intrajejunal elemental diet perfusion on local secretion of soluble CD4 and CD8.

The effects of nutrients on the mucosal immune system are poorly understood. The aim of this work was to study the cellular mucosal immune response to intrajejunal perfusion of an elemental diet (ED) or a control (C) electrolyte solution by measuring jejunal secretion of soluble CD4 (sCD4) and sCD8. sCD4 and sCD8 are markers of helper/inducer and suppressor/cytotoxic regulatory functions of T cells, respectively.

Specific antibody response to oligomannosidic epitopes in Crohn's disease.

Elevated antibody levels against the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been reported in sera from patients with Crohn's disease and not with ulcerative colitis. The aim of the study was to identify the nature of the epitopes supporting this antibody response. Whole cells from different S.

Placebo-controlled clinical trial of mesalazine in the prevention of early endoscopic recurrences after resection for Crohn's disease. Groupe d'Etudes Thérapeutiques des Affections Inflammatoires Digestives (GETAID).

Objective: Endoscopic postoperative recurrences occur early after 'curative' surgery for Crohn's disease. Pentasa has been shown to be effective in the maintenance treatment of quiescent Crohn's disease. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of a 12-week oral intake of Claversal in the prevention of endoscopic recurrences after 'curative' resection for ileal, colonic or ileocolonic Crohn's disease.

Interleukin 3, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and interleukin 5 in eosinophilic gastroenteritis.

Background & Aims: Eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EG) is characterized by an eosinophilic infiltration of the gastrointestinal tract. The mechanism for the intestinal recruitment of eosinophils in EG remains unknown. Eosinophil recruitment and activation is induced by three main cytokines: interleukin (IL) 3, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and IL-5.

Mapping of a susceptibility locus for Crohn's disease on chromosome 16.

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis are the major forms of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases in the western world, and occur in young adults with an estimated prevalence of more than one per thousand inhabitants. The causes of inflammatory bowel diseases remain unknown, but genetic epidemiology studies suggest that inherited factors may contribute in part to variation in individual susceptibility to Crohn's disease. A genome-wide search performed on two consecutive and independent panels of families with multiple affected members, using a non-parametric two-point sibling-pair linkage method, identified a putative CD-susceptibility locus on chromosome 16 (P less than 0.

Bacterial enzymes used for colon-specific drug delivery are decreased in active Crohn's disease.

Enzymes produced by colonic microflora have been proposed for triggering local delivery of antiinflammatory azo-bond drugs and prodrugs to the colon. This approach could be advantageous in steroid treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases, thus sparing steroids' side effects. We recently demonstrated that the metabolic activity of digestive flora, assessed on the activity of fecal glycosidases, was decreased in patients with active Crohn's disease.

[Treatment of diversion colitis with short-chain fatty acids. Bacteriological study].

Objectives: Bacterial imbalance may be involved in the pathogenesis of diversion colitis, via diminished production of short chain fatty acids. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of short chain fatty acids on microbial flora of patients with diversion colitis and to compare this flora to the microbial flora of controls.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated the effectiveness of short chain fatty acids irrigation on bacterial flora of the excluded colon in 13 patients (8 males, 5 females; mean age: 43.

Remaining small bowel endoscopic lesions at surgery have no influence on early anastomotic recurrences in Crohn's disease.

Objectives: We recently demonstrated that 65% of patients operated on for Crohn's disease (CD) had lesions of the small bowel at perioperative endoscopy (POE). These lesions were unrecognized before surgery in more than half of the patients. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of endoscopic small bowel lesions let in place at time of surgery on further anastomotic endoscopic relapse.

Comparison of budesonide and 5-aminosalicylic acid enemas in active distal ulcerative colitis.

Background: Budesonide is a new corticosteroid with high topical anti-inflammatory activity but little systemic effect. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy and safety of budesonide enema (2 mg/100 mL) and 5-ASA enema (mesalazine 1 g/100 mL) given for 4 weeks in the treatment of active distal ulcerative colitis and proctitis.

Methods: Ninety-seven patients were studied in a multicentre single-blind randomized group-comparative trial.

The relationship of granulomas to blood vessels in intestinal Crohn's disease.

It has been suggested that granulomatous vasculitis is a primary mechanism in the production of pathologic changes seen in Crohn's disease. We set out to investigate the relationship of granulomas to blood vessels and to confirm or refute previous reports of granulomatous vasculitis in Crohn's disease. Thirty paraffin embedded tissues from 11 patients with Crohn's disease were selected after examination of H&E stained sections for the presence of granulomas.

Activated eosinophils and interleukin 5 expression in early recurrence of Crohn's disease.

Endoscopic recurrences after radical surgery for Crohn's disease are useful for studying the pathogenesis of initial lesions of Crohn's disease. Factors predisposing to recurrence are poorly understood, but it has been shown that eosinophilic infiltration of the neoileum may occur within a few weeks of resection. The aim of this study was to compare, in nine patients having an ileocolectomy, the infiltration of eosinophils and their activation state in normal and diseased areas of the neoileum, three months after surgery.