Controlled trial of 4-ASA in ulcerative colitis.

A six-week placebo-controlled trial of the efficacy and safety of 6 g per day of 4-aminosalicylic acid (4-ASA) was conducted in 30 subjects with mild to moderately severe ulcerative colitis. Subjects were stratified into groups having distal (< 60 cm) or more extensive (> 60 cm) disease. Diarrhea, bleeding, sigmoidoscopic and biopsy appearance, and physician global assessment were scored to judge efficacy.

Monocyte chemoattractant activity associated with human colon mucosal cells.

Mucosal epithelial cell preparations from 18 disease-free segments of human colon resections and 7 cell lines were examined for chemoattractant properties. Mucosal cells were dissociated from lamina propria by sequential incubations in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, harvested at 1.5 x 10(6) cells/ml, and lysed.

The chemotactic response of blood neutrophils and monocytes to strains of Escherichia coli with different virulence characteristics.

Chemotactic responses of blood neutrophils and monocytes to media conditioned by eight strains of Escherichia coli with different virulence characteristics were measured in modified Boyden assay chambers to determine if these characteristics were associated with differences in leucocyte mobility. Responding neutrophils and monocytes were prepared on conventional density gradients, and in three instances, the chemotaxis of eosinophils isolated on metrizamide gradients was also studied. Media conditioned by enteroinvasive and nonenteroinvasive E.

Pneumatosis intestinalis in patients with Crohn's disease.

The prevalence, predictors, and significance of pneumatosis were determined in 50 patients with Crohn's disease who had abdominal CT scans to rule out abscess. The presence or absence of six CT descriptors and 17 clinical descriptors was documented. CT scans of a control group of 50 subjects without inflammatory bowel disease were also examined.

Dietary supplementation with fish oil in ulcerative colitis.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of fish oil supplementation in patients with active ulcerative colitis.

Design: Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trail with 4-month treatment periods (fish oil and placebo) separated by a 1-month washout.

Setting: Four gastroenterology divisions.