Current Endoscopic Scoring Systems in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Strengths and Limitations.

There are several available endoscopic scoring systems that are designed to assess disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease. The most widely known is the Mayo endoscopic subscore for ulcerative colitis. These schemas are not routinely used in clinical practice, largely due to their complexity or lack of granularity, although they are standard for outcomes measurement in large clinical trials.

Immunomodulators: still having a role?

Immunomodulators, particularly the thiopurines and to a lesser extent methotrexate, were standard of care for inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, for >40 years. While there has been a renaissance in available therapies with the advent of biologics and small molecules, an impetus remains for the ongoing use of thiopurines and methotrexate. This is particularly true for the maintenance of remission and when used in combination therapy with infliximab to suppress anti-biologic antibodies.

Review: The transcripts associated with organ allograft rejection.

The molecular mechanisms operating in human organ transplant rejection are best inferred from the mRNAs expressed in biopsies because the corresponding proteins often have low expression and short half-lives, while small non-coding RNAs lack specificity. Associations should be characterized in a population that rigorously identifies T cell-mediated (TCMR) and antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR). This is best achieved in kidney transplant biopsies, but the results are generalizable to heart, lung, or liver transplants.

Relationships among injury, fibrosis, and time in human kidney transplants.

Background: Kidney transplant biopsies offer an opportunity to understand the pathogenesis of organ fibrosis. We studied the relationships between the time of biopsy after transplant (TxBx), histologic fibrosis, diseases, and transcript expression.

Methods: Expression microarrays from 681 kidney transplant indication biopsies taken either early ( = 282, <1 year) or late ( = 399, >1 year) after transplant were used to analyze the molecular landscape of fibrosis in relationship to histologic fibrosis and diseases.