Completion Proctectomy for Crohn's Colitis: Lessons Learned.

Surgical management of Crohn's disease is reserved for patients refractory to medical therapy and those who develop complications alleviated by surgery. Surgical resection may be the most efficient way to restore health in patients with stricturing and or fistulizing disease of the terminal ileum / small bowel. However, decision-making in patients with Crohn's colitis is more difficult.

Smoking and Crohn's disease: active modification of an independent risk factor (education alone is not enough).

Introduction: Smoking can induce the onset of Crohn's disease in genetically susceptible patients and may accelerate progression and disease severity. There is a paucity of information as to patient knowledge of the impact of smoking on disease progression. The aim of this study was to assess patient awareness, initiate smoking cessation therapy and monitor the effectiveness of an active smoking cessation programme in patients with Crohn's disease.

The pathogen recognition receptor NOD2 regulates human FOXP3+ T cell survival.

The expression of pathogen recognition receptors in human FOXP3+ T regulatory cells is established, yet the function of these receptors is currently obscure. In the process of studying the function of both peripheral and lamina propria FOXP3+ lymphocytes in patients with the human inflammatory bowel disease Crohn's disease, we observed a clear deficiency in the quantity of FOXP3+ lymphocytes in patients with disease-associated polymorphisms in the pathogen recognition receptor gene NOD2. Subsequently, we determined that the NOD2 ligand, muramyl dipeptide (MDP), activates NF-kappaB in primary human FOXP3+ T cells.