Dynamics of vitamin D in patients with mild or inactive inflammatory bowel disease and their families.

Background: 25(OH) vitamin D levels may be low in patients with moderately or severely active inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD: Crohn's disease and Idiopathic Ulcerative Colitis) but this is less clear in patients with mild or inactive IBD. Furthermore there is limited information of any family influence on 25(OH) vitamin D levels in IBD. As a possible risk factor we hypothesize that vitamin D levels may also be low in families of IBD patients.

Differential impact of lactose/lactase phenotype on colonic microflora.

Background: The ability to digest lactose divides the world's population into two phenotypes that may be risk variability markers for several diseases. Prebiotic effects likely favour lactose maldigesters who experience lactose spilling into their colon.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of fixed-dose lactose solutions on fecal bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in digesters and maldigesters, and to determine whether the concept of a difference in ability to digest lactose is supported.

Lack of effect of lactose digestion status on baseline fecal micoflora.

Background: The genetics of intestinal lactase divide the world's population into two phenotypes: the ability (a dominant trait) or inability (a recessive trait) to digest lactose. A prebiotic effect of lactose may impact the colonic flora of these phenotypes differently.

Objective: To detect and evaluate the effects of lactose on subjects divided according to their ability to digest lactose.

Manipulation of intestinal microbial flora for therapeutic benefit in inflammatory bowel diseases: review of clinical trials of probiotics, pre-biotics and synbiotics.

Pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases(Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn's disease and Pouchitis) includes an abnormal immunological response to disturbed intestinal microflora. Therapeutic strategies are designed to intervene in these abnormal host microbial communications. A novel approach in the last decade has been to use other bacteria or selective foods to induce beneficial bacteria to normalize inflammation.