Role of cytokines in inflammatory bowel disease.

The authors review the recent literature about the proinflammatory role of interleukins-1,-2,-6,-8, tumour necrosis factor and interferon-gamma in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, as well as their possible use to assess disease activity and to design new therapeutic approaches. Most cytokines were secreted in excess in inflammatory bowel disease. An imbalance between interleukin-1 and interleukin-1 antagonist might be a factor responsible of the chronicity of intestinal lesions.

[Familial adenomatous polyposis: what is new for the clinician?].

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is a rare autosomal-dominant disease characterized by the development of more than 100 colorectal adenomatous polyps in young adults. In the absence of surgical intervention, colorectal cancer ineluctably develops in all affected patients. Recent progress in the isolation of the gene responsible for the disease allows to detect gene carriers before they present with symptoms attributable to polyps.