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Biomedical subjects

Benoît Coffin

Publications and source records attributed to Benoît Coffin.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Efficacy of infliximab in Crohn's disease. Results of a retrospective multicenter study with a 15-month follow-up.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate prescription practices and response to infliximab treatment for Crohn's disease (CD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The files of CD patients treated with at least one infusion of infliximab treated in gastroenterology units belonging to university teaching hospitals of the Parisian hospitals group (Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) during the year 2000 were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-seven patients (36.0 +/- 12.7 years, 92 females) from 12 centers were studied. Indication for treatment was fistulae or perianal disease in 39% of patients, active Crohn's disease in 45% and mixed conditions in 16%. Mean follow-up was 15.2 +/- 7.2 months. The overall response rate was 85%. No predictive factor of sustained remission could be identified. The mean time to relapse was to 3.9 +/- 3.1 months. Thirty-eight patients were on maintenance therapy at the end of the follow up; 37% exhibiting progressive lost of response to treatment. Immunosuppressive therapy was added to infliximab in 78% of cases but response to infliximab was not modified by addition of immunosuppressive drugs. Adverse events, most frequently minor, were noted in 23% of the patients. CONCLUSION: This retrospective study confirms the efficacy and safety of infliximab in CD.

Adult↗

Irritable bowel syndrome in France: a common, debilitating and costly disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This epidemiological investigation aims to measure the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the general population using the Rome II criteria and to evaluate the medical management including treatments and the impact of IBS on patient life. METHODS: A nationally representative sample of 20,000 French subjects, aged 18 years and over, were interviewed by SOFRES (French Public Opinion Poll Institute) in May 2001. In a second phase (June/July 2001), a 48-question self-administered questionnaire was given to the subjects who have been selected during the first phase as suffering from IBS (Rome II criteria). RESULTS: The prevalence of IBS was 4.7% (confidence interval, 4.36-5.04% with 5% risk) with a predominance in women (5.7% versus 3.7%, P < 0.01). The abdominal pain was often longstanding (> 5 years, 50%), intense (43%) and nocturnal (35%). During the most recent painful episode the levels of associated transit problems were almost equally divided between diarrhoea (36%), constipation (29%) and alternate episodes of both (31%). Apart from pain, bloating was given as the most frequent (73%) and most troublesome (24%) symptom. Since the onset, 80% of subjects with IBS had consulted a doctor (90% consulted a general physician, 57% a gastroenterologist, 50% both) and of these, 80% consulted within the previous 12 months. Sixty-seven per cent of subjects underwent additional investigations since the start of their illness (average of 3.4 examinations per patient examined: colonoscopy, 34.1%; laboratory tests, 34%; and abdominal ultrasound, 27.7%). Over the previous 12 months, 8% of the subjects had been admitted to hospital (average length of stay, 6.6 days), 11% of employed subjects had to take time off, 93% of subjects had taken prescribed medication (87%), but 43% of people thought it was ineffective. The effect on daily life was considerable (score, 6.2/10; close to the score for flu, 7/10). Two-thirds of the individuals changed their diet; 54% said it affected their social life and 29% their professional life. Seventy-four per cent of patients trusted their doctor, with a satisfaction index of 63%, but 45% of patients would like to have more information on IBS. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that the Rome II criteria detected IBS with a prevalence of 4.7%. The recruited subjects had severe symptoms (frequency, intensity and duration) that had a considerable effect on their daily life. The high level of referrals and initial consultations in all categories and the patient's attitudes towards the illness and its treatment emphasize the relative ineffectiveness of care for patients suffering from IBS.

Adult↗

Helicobacter pylori increases the epithelial permeability to a food antigen in human gastric biopsies.

AIMS: We have previously shown that H. pylori increases the passage of intact protein across the digestive epithelium, in vitro and in vivo in mice. The aim of this study was to test whether H. pylori can alter gastric permeability to a food-type antigen in humans. METHODS: Antral and corpus gastric biopsies obtained from H. pylori-positive and H. pylori-negative patients suffering from nonulcer dyspepsia with normal esogastroduodenal endoscopy were mounted in adapted Ussing chambers to measure gastric permeability. Electrical resistance (R, an index of epithelial integrity) and fluxes of 14C-mannitol (JMan, a marker of paracellular permeability) and 3H-horseradish peroxidase (HRP, a test protein of antigen transport and processing) under intact (JHRPi) and degraded (JD) form, across the biopsies, were measured. RESULTS: At the corpus level, biopsies obtained from H. pylori-positive patients, as compared to H. pylori-negative patients, presented significantly higher intact--but not degraded--HRP fluxes (JHRPi = 446 +/- 297 and 219 +/- 265 ng/h cm2, p < 0.05; JD = 4,247 +/- 3,884 and 3,575 +/- 2,594 ng/h x cm2, respectively), and an increase in paracellular permeability (Jman = 0.35 +/- 0.1 vs 0.24 +/- 0.08 micromol/h x cm2, p < 0.02, respectively). At the antrum level, a tendency to increased intact HRP fluxes in H. pylori-positive patients, as compared to H. pylori-negative patients, was observed (JHRPi = 284 +/- 250 vs 207 +/- 203 ng/h x cm2, p < 0.09), without modifications of paracellular permeability. CONCLUSIONS: H. pylori infection increases absorption of an intact food antigen across the corpus gastric mucosa. This phenomenon may contribute to the maintenance of gastric inflammation and could play a role in the development of allergic sensitization to dietary antigens in susceptible individuals.

Adult↗

Butyrate strongly inhibits in vitro stimulated release of cytokines in blood.

We studied the in vitro effects of butyrate on the stimulated release of proinflammatory cytokines and cytokines involved in the Th-1/Th-2 balance using the whole-blood model in nine healthy humans. Cytokines were measured without (control) and after stimulation by bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) alone or with addition of butyrate at six different concentrations (0.0625, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 mM). We found that butyrate at the six tested concentrations induced a significant decrease (P < 0.001) in the stimulated release of TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, and IL-12, whereas IL-6 release was not altered. At concentrations > or = 0.25 mM, butyrate significantly reduced the stimulated release of IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13; the stimulated release of IFN-gamma, IL-12, IL-5, and IL-13 was nearly abolished when compared to the unstimulated control sample. We concluded that butyrate has a wide spectrum of inhibitory activity on cytokine release stimulated by LPS + PHA in a whole-blood model. Confirmation of these results on colonic samples would show that butyrate is a factor by which the luminal contents may modulate the immune system in order to maintain the colonic mucosa in a noninflammatory state.

Adult↗

[Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction].

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a disease characterized by episodes resembling mechanical obstruction in the absence of organic, systemic, or metabolic disorders. Pseudo-obstruction is an uncommon condition and can result from primary (40%) or secondary (60%) causes. The most common symptoms are nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, abdominal pain and constipation or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually present many years before CIPO diagnosis. They can lead to severe electrolyte disorders and malnutrition. Principles for management of patients with CIPO are: to establish a correct clinical diagnosis in excluding mechanical obstruction; to perform a symptomatic and physiologic assessment of the gastrointestinal tract involved; to look for extra-intestinal manifestations, especially for myopathy and neuropathy; to discuss in some cases a surgery for full-thickness intestinal biopsies, and/or a neuromuscular biopsy in case of mitochondrial cytopathy suspicion. The management is primarily focused on symptom control and nutritional support to prevent weight loss and malnutrition. Treatment of CIPO includes prokinetic agents which may help to reduce gastrointestinal symptoms Courses of antibiotics may be needed in patients with symptoms suggestive of bacterial overgrowth. When necessary, enteral nutrition is preferred. In carefully selected patients, feeding jejunostomy with or without decompression gastrostomy may be tried. Long term parenteral nutrition should be reserved for patients who can not tolerate enteral nutrition. Intestinal transplantation can be discussed in selected patients.

Chronic Disease↗