The histopathological approach to inflammatory bowel disease: a practice guide.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are lifelong disorders predominantly present in developed countries. In their pathogenesis, an interaction between genetic and environmental factors is involved. This practice guide, prepared on behalf of the European Society of Pathology and the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation, intends to provide a thorough basis for the histological evaluation of resection specimens and biopsy samples from patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease outcome in patients under azathioprine: a tertiary referral center experience.

Background And Aims: Azathioprine is of major importance in the treatment of Crohn's disease; its efficacy has been showed in several works, but real-life data regarding its use is scarce. Our aim was to address the outcome of patients with Crohn's disease under azathioprine in the real-life setting.

Methods: Crohn's disease patients followed at an Inflammatory Bowel Disease Outpatient Clinic under azathioprine were consecutively enrolled, being allocated in one of four groups.

Disseminated cutaneous herpes simplex infection in a patient with Crohn's disease under azathioprine and steroids: First case report and literature review.

Immunosuppressive treatments used in the management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, namely steroids, thiopurines and anti-TNF drugs, raise the risk of acquiring opportunistic infections. However, most of these infections are mild and self-limited, not requiring specific therapy or suspension of the immunosuppressors. We report a case of disseminated cutaneous herpes simplex infection in a patient with Crohn's disease under steroids and azathioprine.

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.

Anaemia management in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: routine practice across nine European countries.

Background And Objectives: Anaemia and iron deficiency (ID) are common complications in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In patients undergoing iron therapy, intravenous iron supplementation is recommended in preference to oral therapy. This study evaluated routine practice in the management of IBD-associated anaemia and ID to verify implementation of international treatment guidelines.

High C-reactive protein in Crohn's disease patients predicts nonresponse to infliximab treatment.

Background: Infliximab (IFX) is effective in treating Crohn's disease (CD) and C-reactive protein (CRP) is a useful biomarker in assessing inflammatory activity.

Aim: Correlate CRP levels before beginning of IFX, at week 14 and CRP delta within the first year of IFX treatment.

Methods: Retrospective study of CD patients undergoing treatment with IFX.

Infliximab reduces hospitalizations and surgery interventions in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: We systematically reviewed infliximab benefit in reducing hospitalizations and/or major surgery rates in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: A literature search to May 2012 was performed to identify all studies (experimental and observational) evaluating patients with IBD treated with infliximab and providing data on hospitalizations and/or major surgery rates. Three reviewers independently performed studies' selection, quality assessment, and data extraction.

Short- and long-term regulation of intestinal Na+/H+ exchange activity associated with TLR2 receptor activation is independent of nuclear factor-κB signaling.

Type 2 Toll-like receptors (TLR2s) are expressed in cell membranes and recognize a wide range of pathogen-associated molecular patterns derived from bacteria, such as lipoteichoic acid (LTA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of TLR2 activation by LTA on the activity of type 1 Na(+)/H(+) exchanger (NHE) in T84 intestinal epithelial cells. Short-term (0.

Clinical prognostic factors for disabling Crohn's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim: To identify demographic and clinical factors associated with disabling Crohn's disease (CD).

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies, focusing on the factors that can predict the prognosis of different outcomes of CD was undertaken. PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge and Scopus were searched to identify studies investigating the above mentioned factors in adult patients with CD.

Extra-intestinal malignancies in inflammatory bowel disease: results of the 3rd ECCO Pathogenesis Scientific Workshop (III).

The incidence of lymphoproliferative disorders (LD) is increasing in developed countries. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) exposed to thiopurines are at additional risk of three specific forms of LD: Epstein-Barr-Virus-related post-transplant like LD, hepato-splenic T-cell lymphoma and post-mononucleosis lymphoproliferation. The risk of the two latter forms of LD can be reduced when considering specific immunosuppressive strategies in young males.

Tuberculosis in anti-TNF-α treated patients remains a problem in countries with an intermediate incidence: analysis of 25 patients matched with a control population.

Background And Aims: An increased incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in patients under anti-TNF-α therapy has been reported, but outcome compared with TB in the general population are unknown.

Methods: Patients who had active tuberculosis while taking anti-TNF-α drugs were studied and compared with a control group of community-acquired TB matched for sex, age and data of TB.

Results: Twenty-five cases of TB were reported from a cohort of 765 patients under anti-TNF-α from 2001 to 2012.

Epstein-Barr virus in inflammatory bowel disease-correlation with different therapeutic regimens.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with a higher prevalence of opportunistic infections. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous virus related to several malignancies, namely lymphoma; its prevalence in patients with IBD and its relation with different therapeutic regimens are not well studied.

Methods: Patients followed in our IBD outpatient clinic were consecutively enrolled for participation in a prospective study, and healthy volunteers were recruited as controls.

Listeria infection in patients on anti-TNF treatment: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Listeria monocytogenes is an aerobic gram positive intracellular bacillus, predominantly affecting pregnant women, immunocompromised patients and old individuals. Invasive listeriosis, meningitis and meningoencephalitis, bacteraemia with or without joint, eye or heart focalization are clinical manifestations of the disease. Anti-TNF-α drugs blocking the host's response against various microorganisms, particularly intracellular agents like Listeria monocytogenes, increase the risk of disease.

Phenotype-genotype profiles in Crohn's disease predicted by genetic markers in autophagy-related genes (GOIA study II).

Background: About 70 loci are associated with susceptibility to Crohn's disease (CD), particularly in pathways of innate immunity, autophagy, and pathogen recognition. Phenotype-genotype associations are inconsistent.

Methods: CD susceptibility polymorphisms ATG16L1 rs2241880, ICAM1 rs5498, IL4 rs2070874, IL17F rs763780, IRGM rs13361189, ITLN1 rs2274910, LRRK2 rs11175593, and TLR4 rs4986790 were genotyped in a Portuguese population (511 CD patients, 626 controls) and assessed for association with CD clinical characteristics.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma in a Crohn's disease patient taking azathioprine: case report and review of the literature.

Thiopurines are widely used for remission maintenance and post-operative recurrence prevention in Crohn's disease. The increased risk of cancer in transplant recipients on azathioprine is well recognized and there are concerns that this may also be true for inflammatory bowel disease patients. We report a case of a 33-year-old Caucasian woman with Crohn's disease treated with azathioprine for 9 years who developed an ulcerated lesion at the right superior retromolar trigone.

Results from the 2nd Scientific Workshop of the ECCO. I: Impact of mucosal healing on the course of inflammatory bowel disease.

Over the past years, mucosal healing has emerged as a major therapeutic goal in clinical trials in inflammatory bowel diseases. Accumulating evidence indicates that mucosal healing may change the natural course of the disease by decreasing the need for surgery and reducing hospitalization rates in both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Mucosal healing may also prevent the development of long-term disease complications, such as bowel damage in Crohn's disease and colorectal cancer in ulcerative colitis.

Metastatic cutaneous Crohn's disease of the face: a case report and review of the literature.

Metastatic cutaneous Crohn's disease is one of the most uncommon cutaneous extraintestinal manifestations. The face is the rarest location, with only eight cases described in the literature. We report a rare case of a young man with Crohn's disease and two granulomatous lesions on the face in a nodular form.

Review of the disease course among adult ulcerative colitis population-based longitudinal cohorts.

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) has a large impact on patients' lives. Clinical course studies of population-based cohorts contribute to our understanding of the disease as it progresses. We reviewed the clinical course of UC as reported in adult population-based longitudinal cohort studies.

Liver abscess of the caudate lobe due to Staphylococcus aureus in an ulcerative colitis patient: First case report.

Liver abscesses are very rare complications of ulcerative colitis, with only nine cases described in the literature, to our knowledge. We report a case where a recurrence of liver abscess occurred in an ulcerative colitis patient, in two different hepatic lobes, which has not been previously described. The recurrence was in the caudate lobe having the cultures yielded Staphylococcus aureus.

Construction and validation of a web-based epidemiological database for inflammatory bowel diseases in Europe An EpiCom study.

Background: The EpiCom-study investigates a possible East-West-gradient in Europe in the incidence of IBD and the association with environmental factors. A secured web-based database is used to facilitate and centralize data registration.

Aim: To construct and validate a web-based inception cohort database available in both English and Russian language.

Macrophages from IBD patients exhibit defective tumour necrosis factor-α secretion but otherwise normal or augmented pro-inflammatory responses to infection.

Defects in macrophage function have been implicated in the establishment of Crohn's disease (CD). However, the response of macrophages from CD patients to live bacteria, particularly Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), has not been addressed.

Management of inflammatory bowel disease with infliximab and other anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha therapies.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), most commonly referring to Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, is a chronic and disabling condition with an increasing incidence in southern Europe. The etiology of IBD remains unknown, but the characteristic disproportionate inflammatory response in the gut may develop through various mechanisms at the cellular and subcellular level. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha is one crucial mediator of this abnormal immune response, and in recent years, biological therapies targeting TNFα have significantly improved the management of IBD refractory to conventional therapies.