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Biomedical subjects

I T Weterman

Publications and source records attributed to I T Weterman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Natural, lectin- and phorbol ester-induced cellular cytotoxicity in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Cellular cytotoxicity of peripheral blood cells was studied in patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and healthy controls. The spontaneous cytotoxicity or natural killer (NK) cell activity, evaluated against the erythroleukemia K-562 and the colon cancer CaCo-2 and HT-29 cell lines, of total mononuclear cells and enriched lymphocytes was depressed in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients compared to the controls. Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) increased the cytotoxicity in the patients, to a similar maximal level as the stimulated controls. In contrast, the phorbol ester, phorbol-myristate-acetate (PMA), enhanced the cytotoxicity in patients and in controls, but in the patients not to the levels of the controls. No cytotoxicity was observed in the monocyte-enriched fraction both in patients and controls using the same assay system. A similar small but significant stimulation of monocyte cytotoxicity was obtained by PHA and PMA in patients and in controls. In conclusion, inflammatory bowel disease is associated with a depressed NK cell activity in peripheral blood which is not target specific. PHA but not PMA could restore the deficient NK cell activity. Monocytes seem not to be involved in the decreased NK cell activity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Adolescent↗

Epidemiology of Crohn's disease in Regio Leiden, The Netherlands. A population study from 1979 to 1983.

An epidemiologic study of inflammatory bowel disease was conducted in Regio Leiden, the Netherlands, between 1979 and 1983. Archives of endoscopy, radiology, pathology, and specialist letters were reviewed for suspected patients with inflammatory bowel disease, together with a survey of all general practitioners to verify completeness of data. One thousand forty patients were identified and each diagnosis was reviewed. Two hundred ten patients had Crohn's disease and 257 had ulcerative colitis. Of the other 573 patients, the largest proportion (21%) had incomplete data for disease classification. Others had irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, or ischemic or irradiation colitis; some were nonresident patients with inflammatory bowel disease treated within the region and others were out of the period for inclusion in this investigation. The incidence of Crohn's disease was 3.9 per 10(5) per year and the period prevalence was 48 per 10(5). The sex-specific incidence was similar, although the disease was significantly more common in women aged 20-29 yr. The prevalence in the city municipalities of Leiden and Alphen on the Rijn (63 per 10(5)) was similar but significantly greater than in suburban (39 per 10(5)) or agarian areas (40 per 10(5)). This may be partially due to urban density but not to differences in water supply. The lack of cases in the migrant population almost reaches significant levels, but studies in locations with a higher migrant population may clarify the issue.

Colitis, Ulcerative↗

Immunoglobulin allotypes in Crohn's disease in the Netherlands.

An association between Crohn's disease and immunoglobulin allotypes has been reported. Confirmation of this association in other populations would be of particular importance for the study of hereditary factors in Crohn's disease. In the present study we have typed 155 unrelated Dutch patients with Crohn's disease and 450 blood donors for the Gm, Am, and Km markers. No significant differences were found in Gm phenotypes and haplotypes between patients and controls. It therefore seems unlikely that the immunoglobulin allotypes play an important role in the susceptibility of individuals to Crohn's disease.

Adolescent↗

Differences in the immunoglobulin synthesis by peripheral blood lymphocytes in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

To determine whether patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis differ in their capacity to produce immunoglobulins, we have studied the in vitro immunoglobulin synthesis by peripheral blood lymphocytes of such patients and compared the results with those of healthy controls. The spontaneous immunoglobulin production by peripheral blood lymphocytes from Crohn's disease patients was significantly increased for both IgA and IgG, whereas for IgM the increase did not reach statistical significance. In ulcerative colitis, however, the spontaneous IgA and IgG production was almost identical to that of the healthy controls and thus lower than in Crohn's disease. Pokeweed mitogen stimulation resulted in a significantly enhanced immunoglobulin production in Crohn's disease and in controls, whereas peripheral blood lymphocytes from ulcerative colitis patients were found to be rather insensitive to pokeweed mitogen stimulation. Suppression of the stimulated immunoglobulin production by concanavalin A revealed considerable reduction in all groups studied. In general, the highest suppression was found in patients with Crohn's disease. In patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis there was no relation between the changes in the in vitro immunoglobulin synthesis and the population of B or T lymphocytes and monocytes present in the peripheral blood. The differences in the spontaneous and stimulated immunoglobulin synthesis by peripheral blood lymphocytes, as found in this study, point to major changes in the regulation of the immunoglobulin synthesis in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Adult↗

Seropositivity in Dutch Crohn's disease patients against primed nude mouse lymph nodes, and the difference with lymphocytotoxic antibodies.

Sera from patients with Crohn's disease have been reported to show positive immunofluorescence with lymph nodes of nude mice primed with a filtrate of intestinal tissue affected with Crohn's disease. An indirect immunofluorescence assay was used to test sera of 63 unrelated patients with Crohn's disease, 21 with ulcerative colitis and 36 control subjects against lymph nodes of athymic nude (nu/nu) mice which had been injected with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis intestinal tissue filtrates. Forty nine per cent of Crohn's disease patients, 10% of ulcerative colitis patients and 3% of control sera reacted against lymph nodes of mice injected injected with ulcerative colitis intestinal tissue filtrates, 18% of Crohn's disease sera were with intestinal tissue homogenate from Dutch Crohn's patients. With the lymph nodes of mice injected with ulcerative colitis intestinal tissue filtrates, 18% of Crohn's disease sera were positive, whereas all ulcerative colitis and control sera were negative. Lymph nodes from 18 of the 19 mice injected with Crohn's disease tissue filtrates reacted with Crohn's disease sera, whereas only three of these 19 mice reacted with ulcerative colitis sera. A comparative study, carried out in parallel with Crohn's disease filtrate induced hyperplastic lymph nodes from the Bilthoven colony (W2) and from the New York colony (E671) using sera from 54 Crohn's disease patients from Leiden, showed immunoreactivity with 44 and 57% of the Crohn's disease sera against the two hyperplastic lymph nodes. Thirty six of the 54 Crohn's disease sera (67%) reacted with either or both lymph nodes. Only 11% of the Crohn's disease sera which were examined for immunofluorescence and lymphocytotoxic antibodies had lymphocytotoxic antibodies, whereas 40% and 46% of the same sera showed positive immunofluorescence against E671 and W2, respectively. Absorption studies indicated that lymphocytotoxic antibodies activity and the immunofluorescence against the primed nude mouse lymph node are mediated by different serum antibodies in Crohn's disease. The reproducibility of the nude mouse immunofluorescence test system for a preferential immunoreactivity of Crohn's disease sera against Crohn's disease tissue primed murine lymph nodes has been confirmed by the present study. Further studies are necessary to find out whether crossreactive antigen(s) as recognised by some of the Crohn's disease sera in mice injected with ulcerative colitis tissue filtrate is similar to the antigen(s) detected by Crohn's disease sera in mice injected with Crohn's disease tissue filtrates.

Absorption↗

European survey of fertility and pregnancy in women with Crohn's disease: a case control study by European collaborative group.

Two hundred and seventy five patients with Crohn's disease from five countries were interviewed. Each patient was matched with a control of the same age. Of the 275 women with Crohn's disease 224 had been married at some time compared with 208 controls. The mean age at marriage was 23 years. Diagnosis of Crohn's disease was made five years later and the survey was conducted on average 16 years after marriage. Cases and controls had a similar obstetric study before diagnosis. After diagnosis there was a significant reduction in the number of children born to patients (0.4) compared with controls (0.7). Crohn's disease did not increase the rate of miscarriage or Caesarean section but prematurity was more common in patients (16%) than controls (7%). The site of disease at diagnosis did not affect these findings. Medical advice against pregnancy may be partly responsible for this reduction in fertility, but patients practised contraception less than controls and a significantly greater proportion of these (42%) failed to become pregnant compared with controls (28%). Crohn's disease results in subfertility.

Adolescent↗

Impaired activation of the neutrophil oxidative metabolism in chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

The oxidative metabolism of circulating neutrophils was studied in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The production of superoxide anion (02-.) in patients with ulcerative colitis was markedly decreased irrespective of whether soluble or particulate, non-chemotactic or chemotactic stimuli were used. Crohn's disease neutrophils showed a just marginally diminished 02-. production. Disease activity, as defined by the Crohn's disease activity index, was negatively correlated with the neutrophil O2-. production in both diseases. In both Crohn's disease and in ulcerative colitis neutrophil hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production was normal. It is concluded that the neutrophil function, as-assessed by superoxide anion production, is impaired in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. It is therefore suggested that the suboptimal microbicidal function of these cells, as demonstrated in the present study, may contribute to the disease process.

Adult↗

Immunological findings in whole and parotid saliva of patients with Crohn's disease and healthy controls.

Since oral lesions appear to occur more commonly in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) than in normal controls or patients with ulcerative colitis, it has been suggested that a deficit of locally produced IgA allows the invasion of the oral mucous membrane by antigens and contributes to the production of oral lesions. In connection with this hypothesis, the concentrations of IgA, IgM, and IgG in whole and parotid saliva were investigated by the ELISA technique in 20 patients with CD and 20 healthy subjects matched for dental status. IgA predominated in whole and parotid saliva in both patients and controls, and in both groups whole saliva had higher levels of IgA, IgM, and IgG than parotid saliva did. Compared with the controls, IgA, IgM, and IgG levels were significantly elevated in the whole saliva of CD patients. However, no correlation was found between immunoglobulin levels and age, sex, therapy, duration, localization, or activity of the disease.

Adult↗

Partial defect of neutrophil oxidative metabolism in Crohn's disease.

Polymorphonuclear leucocytes of patients with untreated Crohn's disease showed a lower level of oxidative metabolism than polymorphonuclear leucocytes of treated Crohn's disease patients and controls. Whereas the production of superoxide anion (O-.2) in Crohn's disease patients was almost normal, polymorphonuclear leucocytes of untreated Crohn's disease patients showed a significantly deficient production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). In the medically treated Crohn's disease patients, a significant negative correlation was found between H2O2 production by polymorphonuclear leucocytes and disease activity. These findings suggest an intrinsic cellular defect in the neutrophils of Crohn's disease patients which, together with the decreased locomotor function of these cells in vivo, might contribute to the pathogenesis of the chronic inflammation and granuloma formation in this disease.

Adult↗

Familial incidence of Crohn's disease in The Netherlands and a review of the literature.

A detailed family history of first-degree relatives of 400 unrelated Dutch patients with Crohn's disease revealed a second case among first-degree relatives in 32 families (8%). The most frequently observed positive relationship was among siblings. In two families, three children had Crohn's disease. One pair of concordant monozygotic twins was found; in the other pair of monozygotic twins, only one was affected by the disease. None of the five dizygotic twin pairs was found to be concordant for Crohn's disease. The results of the present study, together with those published in the medical literature, support a hereditary predisposition for Crohn's disease.

Crohn Disease↗

Immunohistological findings in lip biopsy specimens from patients with Crohn's disease and healthy subjects.

Biopsies of apparently normal buccal mucosa were taken from 14 patients with Crohn's disease and 13 healthy controls who were matched for dental status. Most patients had an increased number of lymphocytes around vessels in the subepithelial tissue and two showed fibrosis with moderate atrophy of minor glands. Plasma cells which contained immunoglobulin, predominantly IgA, were only found around minor salivary glands in both patients and controls. Quantitative studies showed a significant increase in the number of cells containing IgA in patients compared with controls. No correlation was found between immunoglobulin pattern and disease activity, age, sex, or duration of Crohn's disease. A significant correlation was found between the activity of the disease, as defined by the Crohn's Disease Activity Index, and the number of plasma cells containing IgM.

Adult↗

The prognosis of ileorectal anastomosis in Crohn's disease.

A total of 105 patients have been treated with colectomy and ileorectal anastomosis from 1958 to 1978 in Birmingham, England (48) and in Leiden, Netherlands (57). At the end of 1978 the mean follow-up was 7.6 years (6 months-20 years). Mild or moderate degrees of proctitis were not considered as contraindications for ileorectal anastomosis. The presence or absence of ileal disease or perianal disease at the time of ileorectal anastomosis did not effect the long term prognosis but patients with sigmoidoscopic proctitis appeared to fare less well (69 per cent still functioning) than those with an apparently normal rectum (87 per cent). However, no statistical significance was obtained. The risk of reoperation for recurrence of Crohn's disease after ileorectal anastomosis calculated by actuarial methods shows a 50 per cent cumulative reoperation rate after 16-20 years. This result suggests that ileorectal anastomosis is a safe and useful procedure for most patients with Crohn's colitis who did not have severe proctitis.

Adolescent↗

Total parenteral nutrition in Crohn's disease.

A personal experience involving use of total parenteral nutrition in 115 patients with Crohn's disease is reported from a medical unit. Remission occurred without surgery in 24 patients. The regimen was considered to have failed in its objectives in 50 patients, and complications were recorded in 57.

Catheterization↗