Diverse Phenotypes, Consistent Treatment: A Study of 30 997 South Asian and White Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Using the UK Inflammatory Bowel Disease BioResource.

Background: Studies in the UK and North America have suggested a distinct disease profile in South Asians compared to that of White populations. Disparities in the medical and surgical management of IBD in minority ethnic groups (including Black Americans and Asians) in the US have been shown, while data from Europe, including the UK, have been lacking. This study sought to evaluate South Asian (SA) and White (WH) inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) phenotypes, and to explore treatment approach variations between these cohorts in the UK using the IBD BioResource database.

Effects of bowel preparation on intestinal bacterial associated urine and faecal metabolites and the associated faecal microbiome.

Background: Urinary and faecal metabolic profiling have been extensively studied in gastrointestinal diseases as potential diagnostic markers, and to enhance our understanding of the intestinal microbiome in the pathogenesis these conditions. The impact of bowel cleansing on the microbiome has been investigated in several studies, but limited to just one study on the faecal metabolome.

Aim: To compare the effects of bowel cleansing on the composition of the faecal microbiome, and the urine and faecal metabolome.

UK IBD Twin Registry: Concordance and Environmental Risk Factors of Twins with IBD.

Background And Aims: Twin studies have long been used to infer heritability. Within the 'omics era, twin cohorts have even greater research potential. This study describes the formation of the UK IBD Twin Registry and analysis of concordance and environmental factors.

Role of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography in the Monitoring of Inflammatory Activity in Crohn's Disease.

Background: Fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (F-FDG PET) has recently attracted interest for the measurement of disease activity in Crohn's disease (CD). The aim of this study was to assess the utility of FDG-PET as a marker of progression of inflammatory activity and its response to treatment in patients with CD.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with active CD were recruited prospectively to undergo FDG-PET scanning at 2 time points.

Association analyses identify 38 susceptibility loci for inflammatory bowel disease and highlight shared genetic risk across populations.

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are the two main forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Here we report the first trans-ancestry association study of IBD, with genome-wide or Immunochip genotype data from an extended cohort of 86,640 European individuals and Immunochip data from 9,846 individuals of East Asian, Indian or Iranian descent. We implicate 38 loci in IBD risk for the first time.

Analysis of Exhaled Breath Volatile Organic Compounds in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Pilot Study.

Background And Aims: Distinguishing between the inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD], Crohn's disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC], is important for determining management and prognosis. Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry [SIFT-MS] may be used to analyse volatile organic compounds [VOCs] in exhaled breath: these may be altered in disease states, and distinguishing breath VOC profiles can be identified. The aim of this pilot study was to identify, quantify, and analyse VOCs present in the breath of IBD patients and controls, potentially providing insights into disease pathogenesis and complementing current diagnostic algorithms.

Diarrhea in Crohn’s disease: investigating the role of the ileal hormone fibroblast growth factor 19.

Background: Bile acids [BA] are usually reabsorbed by the terminal ileum, but this process is frequently abnormal in Crohn’s disease [CD]. BA malabsorption occurs, and excess colonic BA cause secretory diarrhea. Furthermore, the hormone fibroblast growth factor 19 [FGF19] is synthesized in the ileum in response to BA absorption and regulates BA synthesis.

HLA-DQA1-HLA-DRB1 variants confer susceptibility to pancreatitis induced by thiopurine immunosuppressants.

Pancreatitis occurs in approximately 4% of patients treated with the thiopurines azathioprine or mercaptopurine. Its development is unpredictable and almost always leads to drug withdrawal. We identified patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who had developed pancreatitis within 3 months of starting these drugs from 168 sites around the world.

Ethnicity differences in genetic susceptibility to ulcerative colitis: a comparison of Indian asians and white northern Europeans.

Background: Studies in Caucasian populations have identified a number of genetic associations with ulcerative colitis (UC), but reports from other ethnic groups have been limited. Recent studies from India have reported an association with UC and a single polymorphism (SNP) in CARD15/NOD2 (SNP5, rs2066842), which has not been reported in Caucasian UC cohorts. In addition, strong genetic associations with SNPs in the HLA region have been reported in Indian UC populations.

C-reactive protein is a useful predictor of metronidazole treatment failure in mild-to-moderate Clostridium difficile infection.

Objective: To assess the ability of C-reactive (CRP) protein, against the other commonly used metrics, to predict metronidazole treatment failure in Clostridium difficile infection.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the case notes of 65 patients with C. difficile infection initially treated with metronidazole.

Serum metabolic profiling in inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD), and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract whose pathogenesis is not completely understood. (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of serum generates comprehensive metabolic profiles, reflecting systemic metabolism, which may be altered in disease states.

Aim: The aim of this study was to use (1)H NMR-based serum metabolic profiling in the investigation of CD patients, UC patients, and controls, potentially to provide insights into disordered metabolism in IBD, and into underlying mechanisms of disease.

Differences in inflammatory bowel disease phenotype between South Asians and Northern Europeans living in North West London, UK.

Objectives: The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing throughout Asia. Since the 1950s, there has been substantial migration from South Asia (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) to the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to define the clinical phenotype of IBD in UK South Asians living in North West London, and to compare the results with a white Northern European IBD cohort.

Crohn's disease.

Introduction: Crohn's disease is a chronic condition of the gastrointestinal tract. It is characterised by transmural, granulomatous inflammation that occurs in a discontinuous pattern, with a tendency to form fistulae. The cause is unknown but may depend on interactions between genetic predisposition, environmental triggers, and mucosal immunity.

Differences in gut microbial metabolism are responsible for reduced hippurate synthesis in Crohn's disease.

Background: Certain urinary metabolites are the product of gut microbial or mammalian metabolism; others, such as hippurate, are mammalian-microbial 'co-metabolites'. It has previously been observed that Crohn's disease (CD) patients excrete significantly less hippurate than controls. There are two stages in the biosynthesis of this metabolite: 1) gut microbial metabolism of dietary aromatic compounds to benzoate, and 2) subsequent hepatorenal conjugation of benzoate with glycine, forming hippurate.

Metabonomics in ulcerative colitis.

A recent publication in the Journal of Proteome Research applied metabolic profiling ("metabonomics") to ulcerative colitis; several different biosamples were investigated ( J. Proteome Res. 2010 , 9 , 954 - 962 ).

Crohn's disease.

Introduction: Crohn's disease is a chronic condition of the gastrointestinal tract. It is characterised by transmural, granulomatous inflammation that occurs in a discontinuous pattern, with a tendency to form fistulae. The cause is unknown but may depend on interactions between genetic predisposition, environmental triggers, and mucosal immunity.

Survey on the use of adalimumab as maintenance therapy in Crohn's disease in England and Ireland.

Introduction: Adalimumab is effective in inducing and maintaining response/remission in patients with Crohn's disease either naive to biological therapies or after secondary failure of infliximab.

Aim: To present the first 'real-life' survey data from England and Ireland on the use of adalimumab.

Method: A retrospective audit conducted through a web-based questionnaire in England/Ireland.

Characterization of inflammatory bowel disease with urinary metabolic profiling.

Objectives: Distinguishing between the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD), and ulcerative colitis (UC) is important for both management and prognostic reasons. Discrimination using noninvasive techniques could be an adjunct to conventional diagnostics. Differences have been shown between the intestinal microbiota of CD and UC patients and controls; the gut bacteria influence specific urinary metabolites that are quantifiable using proton high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease.

The idiopathic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, may be complicated by extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) in up to 40% of patients. Reports suggest that almost every organ system may be affected. The EIMs are a significant cause of morbidity and may be particularly distressing for the patient.

The effect of smoking after surgery for Crohn's disease: a meta-analysis of observational studies.

Objective: The aim of the study was to quantify the risk of disease recurrence associated with cigarette smoking for individuals with Crohn's disease after disease-modifying surgery.

Design: Meta-analysis of observational studies.

Data Sources: Medline, Embase, Ovid and the Cochrane database.

Crohn's disease.

Introduction: Crohn's disease is a long-term chronic condition of the gastrointestinal tract. It is characterised by transmural, granulomatous inflammation that occurs in a discontinuous pattern, with a tendency to form fistulae. The cause is unknown but may depend on interactions between genetic predisposition, environmental triggers, and mucosal immunity.

Diagnostic precision of anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies and perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in inflammatory bowel disease.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic precision of antiSaccharomyces cerevisiae (ASCA) and perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (pANCA) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and evaluate their discriminative ability between ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD).

Methods: Meta-analysis of studies reporting on ASCA and pANCA in IBD was performed. Sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios (LR+, LR-) were calculated for different test combinations for CD, UC, and for IBD compared with controls.

Uveitis and erythema nodosum in inflammatory bowel disease: clinical features and the role of HLA genes.

Background & Aims: There are few systematic studies on the natural history or immunogenetic associations of erythema nodosum (EN) or ocular inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but they are reportedly more common in patients with other extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs), particularly arthritis. Immunogenetic associations have previously been described in IBD arthritis and in EN associated with sarcoidosis. This study examined the clinical features and HLA-B, DR, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) associations of ocular inflammation and EN and their clinical and immunogenetic relationship to arthritis in IBD.

The molecular classification of the clinical manifestations of Crohn's disease.

Background & Aims: Crohn's disease is a common inflammatory disorder of the gut characterized by variation in both location and behavior. Chromosome 16 and the HLA region on chromosome 6 have been implicated in susceptibility to disease. Mutations in the NOD2/CARD15 gene, recently identified on chromosome 16, have been associated with disease overall but are found in only 25% of patients.