polymorphism frequency in Croatian population.

Uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase-2B7 (UGT2B7), enzyme responsible for the elimination of a number of xenobiotics through glucuronidation, is expressed in the gut, kidneys, intestines, and brain. However, data on the frequency of polymorphisms in the Croatian population are limited. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of the (rs7668258) polymorphism in the Croatian population and to compare it with reported frequencies in other populations.

White coat hypertension is another clinical characteristic of patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A cross-sectional study.

In this cross-sectional study, our aim was to analyze association of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) values with pulse wave velocity (PWV) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients as well as the prevalence and characteristics of white coat hypertension (WCH) in this group of patients with chronic inflammation and high prevalence of anxiety. We enrolled 120 consecutive IBD patients (77 Crohn´s disease; 43 ulcerative colitis) who were not treated with antihypertensive drugs without cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and renal morbidity. Office blood pressure, ABPM, and PWV were measured with Omrom M6, SpaceLab 90207, and Arteriograph, respectively.

Diffuse intestinal ulcerations: Diagnostic challenge in a patient with complicated celiac disease.

A 48-year-old female patient presented with longstanding unrecognized celiac disease (CD), a family history of CD, and a short duration of alarming symptoms. The diagnostic evaluation revealed the concomitant presence of small and large bowel ulcers raised a dilemma about differential diagnosis in her case. Pathologic examination of tissue specimens from the jejunal ulcer led to the diagnosis of enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma.

Gut microbiota in mucosa and feces of newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve adult inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome patients.

The knowledge on how gut microbes contribute to the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) at the onset of disease is still scarce. We compared gut microbiota in newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve adult IBD (Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)) to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients and healthy group. Mucosal and fecal microbiota of 49 patients (13 UC, 10 CD, and 26 IBS) before treatment initiation, and fecal microbiota of 12 healthy subjects was characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Association of Atraumatic Splenic Rupture and Acute Pancreatitis: Case Report with Literature Review.

Atraumatic splenic rupture is an uncommon complication of acute pancreatitis. This article presents a case of a 35-year-old patient presenting with acute pancreatitis who subsequently developed a splenic vein thrombosis and splenic rupture requiring a laparotomy and splenectomy. This rare but life-threatening complication requires prompt recognition and management in patients with pancreatitis who develop sudden hemodynamic instability.

Pregnancy-Onset Acute Severe Colitis after in vitro Fertilization Embryo Transfer.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) usually affect women in their fertile years and, therefore, have implications for their fertility and pregnancy. The presence of IBD during pregnancy has been shown to adversely affect pregnancy outcomes, and increased rates of preterm delivery and of spontaneous abortion have been reported. An onset of acute severe colitis in pregnancy has rarely been seen.

LEUKOCYTAPHERESIS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF SEVERE STEROID-DEPENDENT ULCERATIVE COLITIS.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a multifactorial disease of unknown precise etiology and immunopathogenesis. Peripheral blood granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages are the major sources of cytokines, which regulate inflammation. Leukocytapheresis (LCAP) is a method where blood is processed by apheresis system that removes lymphocytes and plasma before being returned to the body.

Disease course of inflammatory bowel disease unclassified in a European population-based inception cohort: An Epi-IBD study.

Background And Aim: A definitive diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) is not always possible, and a proportion of patients will be diagnosed as inflammatory bowel disease unclassified (IBDU). The aim of the study was to investigate the prognosis of patients initially diagnosed with IBDU and the disease course during the following 5 years.

Methods: The Epi-IBD study is a prospective population-based cohort of 1289 IBD patients diagnosed in centers across Europe.

Association of polymorphic variants in serotonin re-uptake transporter gene with Crohn's disease: a retrospective case-control study.

Aim: To analyze the distribution of SLC6A4 gene polymorphisms in Crohn's disease (CD) patients and their association with the disease.

Methods: We evaluated the presence/absence of promoter (5-HTTLPR, rs25531) and intron 2 (STin2 VNTR) polymorphic variants of SLC6A4 gene in a retrospective case-control study including 192 CD patients and 157 healthy controls (HC). Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction.

Vitamin D deficiency in a European inflammatory bowel disease inception cohort: an Epi-IBD study.

Background: Serum vitamin D level is commonly low in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although there is a growing body of evidence that links low vitamin D level to certain aspects of IBD such as disease activity and quality of life, data on its prevalence and how it varies across disease phenotype, smoking status and treatment groups are still missing.

Materials And Methods: Patients diagnosed with IBD between 2010 and 2011 were recruited.

Increased arterial stiffness - similar findings in patients with inflammatory bowel disease without prior hypertension or diabetes and in patients with well-controlled hypertension.

Purpose: Chronic inflammatory diseases are related with earlier onset of atherosclerosis. We hypothesized that inflammatory bowel disease patients with chronic, systemic inflammation have an increased arterial stiffness associated with the disease duration. Also, we wanted to compare arterial stiffness markers between inflammatory bowel disease and well-controlled hypertension patients.

Terminal ileum resection as a trigger for Strongyloides stercoralis hyperinfection and ensuing serial sepsis in a 37-year-old patient with complicated Crohn's disease: a case report.

The nematode Strongyloides stercoralis, outside the tropics and subtropics present in small endemic foci, can cause an infection after direct skin contact with contaminated soil containing infective filariform larvae and, rarely, after intimate interhuman contact or after transplantation of an infected solid organ. Following skin penetration, migration, and maturation through several stages, a small number of invasive filariform larvae can develop anew in the gut lumen, perpetuating new cycles of penetration, tissue migration, and reproduction, without leaving the host.In a state of immunosuppression, autoinfection can progress to life-threatening hyperinfection and/or infection disseminated through virtually any organ.

QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube Test in the Diagnosis of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in Arthritis Patients Treated with Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonists.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test (QFT-GIT) in detecting latent tuberculosis in immunocompromised patients before introducing tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) antagonists. The study included 300 subjects of similar age. The study group comprised of 150 QuantiFERON (QFT) positive subjects with rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis, while control group comprised of 150 QFT negative respondents with the same diseases.

Occurrence of Anaemia in the First Year of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in a European Population-based Inception Cohort-An ECCO-EpiCom Study.

Background And Aims: Anaemia is an important complication of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anaemia and the practice of anaemia screening during the first year following diagnosis, in a European prospective population-based inception cohort.

Methods: Newly diagnosed IBD patients were included and followed prospectively for 1 year in 29 European and one Australian centre.

Costs and resource utilization for diagnosis and treatment during the initial year in a European inflammatory bowel disease inception cohort: an ECCO-EpiCom Study.

Background: No direct comparison of health care cost in patients with inflammatory bowel disease across the European continent exists. The aim of this study was to assess the costs of investigations and treatment for diagnostics and during the first year after diagnosis in Europe.

Methods: The EpiCom cohort is a prospective population-based inception cohort of unselected inflammatory bowel disease patients from 31 Western and Eastern European centers.

Health-related quality of life improves during one year of medical and surgical treatment in a European population-based inception cohort of patients with inflammatory bowel disease--an ECCO-EpiCom study.

Background & Aims: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is impaired in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The aim was prospectively to assess and validate the pattern of HRQoL in an unselected, population-based inception cohort of IBD patients from Eastern and Western Europe.

Methods: The EpiCom inception cohort consists of 1560 IBD patients from 31 European centres covering a background population of approximately 10.

[The role of anti-TNF therapy in ulcerative colitis].

Anti-TNF-alfa molecules are currently being used to treat ulcerative colitis regarding to the fact that TNF-alpha has an important role in the pathogenesis of IBD. Although these drugs improved the therapy of patients, immunogenicity limits their potential for clinical use. Infliximab and adalimumab are effective for induction and maintenance of remission in outpatients with moderate to severe steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis.

[Croatian consensus on the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases with biologic therapy].

Introduction of biologic therapy in clinical practice represented significant progress in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) because of its proven efficacy and due to the fact that biologics are the first drugs used in the treatment of IBD that can change the natural course of this diseases. At the same time, biologics are very expensive drugs with complex mechanism of action and important side effects and their use requires evidence-based clinical guidelines. These were the reasons that Referral Center of the Croatian Ministry of Health for IBD and the IBD Section of the Croatian Society of Gastroenterology organised Croatian consensus conference that defined guidelines for the treatment of IBD with anti-TNF drugs.

Health care and patients' education in a European inflammatory bowel disease inception cohort: an ECCO-EpiCom study.

Background And Aims: The EpiCom study and inception cohort was initiated in 2010 in 31 centers from 14 Western and 8 Eastern European countries, covering a 10.1million person background population. Our aim was to investigate whether there is a difference between Eastern and Western Europe in health care and education of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Environmental factors in a population-based inception cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients in Europe--an ECCO-EpiCom study.

Background And Aims: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in Eastern Europe possibly due to changes in environmental factors towards a more "westernised" standard of living. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in exposure to environmental factors prior to diagnosis in Eastern and Western European IBD patients.

Methods: The EpiCom cohort is a population-based, prospective inception cohort of 1560 unselected IBD patients from 31 European countries covering a background population of 10.

Initial disease course and treatment in an inflammatory bowel disease inception cohort in Europe: the ECCO-EpiCom cohort.

Background: The EpiCom cohort is a prospective, population-based, inception cohort of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients from 31 European centers covering a background population of 10.1 million. The aim of this study was to assess the 1-year outcome in the EpiCom cohort.