[Presence of various erythrocytic antibodies in a case of ulcerative colitis].
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Collangenous colitis is a clinicopathologic syndrome characterized by (1) chronic watery diarrhea and crampy abdominal pain and (2) distinctive colorectal histopathology that includes a subepithelial collagen band, prominent chronic inflammation in the lamina propria, and increased intraepithelial lymphocytes. Lymphocytic colitis has similar clinical features to collangenous colitis, the main symptom being chronic watery diarrhea. Diversion colitis is an inflammatory process that arises in segments of the large intestine that are excluded from the fecal stream. This condition usually occurs in patients with ileostomy or colostomy when a mucous fistula or Hartmann's pouch has been left.
A large number of drugs have gastrointestinal side-effects of which diarrhoea or constipation, nausea and vomiting are amongst the commonest. In relatively few are there diagnostic pathological changes and this review draws attention to the most common. Incriminating a drug as a cause of specific pathological changes requires the drug to be associated with the changes, for the latter to resolve when the drug is withdrawn and for them to re-appear when a patient is rechallenged with the drug. Individual histological features such as apoptosis, tissue infiltration by eosinophils and increased intra-epithelial lymphocytes within the gut mucosa can be clues to an iatrogenic aetiology but these are by no means specific. Amongst the few pathognomonic patterns of drug reactions is pseudomembranous colitis and diaphragm disease. These, along with others such as reactive gastritis and the collagenous and lymphocytic forms of microscopic colitis, in which drugs have also been implicated, are described here.
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BACKGROUND: In patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), accelerated bone loss and osteopenia have been found. Potential etiologies of these bone abnormalities have included malnutrition, poor calcium intake or absorption, and the use of corticosteroids. Recent studies have suggested that circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are produced in inflamed bowel, can have a profound effect on bone metabolism, particularly bone resorption. Our aim was to characterize the effects of serum from subjects with IBD on bone metabolism in an in vitro bone culture system. METHODS: Organ cultures of fetal rat parietal bones were treated with sera from 9 subjects with Crohn's disease, 7 with ulcerative colitis, and 10 controls with functional bowel disease (age range of all subjects 7-16 years). Patients were also classified by disease activity, serum albumin level, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and serum interleukin (IL) 6 levels. The effects of sera on bone formation and resorption were quantified. RESULTS: Compared with control serum, serum from patients with Crohn's disease significantly decreased bone dry weight (p < 0.01) and calcium content (p < 0.001) during 96 h of culture, while serum from ulcerative colitis patients had no effect. While no difference in collagen synthesis was noted between any of the three experimental groups, noncollagen protein synthesis was lower in the ulcerative colitis group than in the control group or those with Crohn's disease (p < 0.05). DNA content was similar in all groups. There was no significant effect of serum from any experimental group on bone resorption. There was no demonstrable relationship between clinical disease activity, ESR, or serum IL-6 levels and measures of bone metabolism. Histologic evaluation of cultured bone showed marked differences between control subjects and Crohn's disease patients, with the latter being characterized by disorganization of mineral and osteoid and morphologically abnormal osteoblasts. CONCLUSIONS: Serum from children with IBD has a significantly different effect than control serum on an in vitro model of bone metabolism. Our data suggest that circulating factors may affect osteoblasts and bone formation, leading to bone loss. Further work will be required to further characterize the nature of these factors and develop treatment strategies to minimize their effects.
Specimens from 300 patients were studied using five to nine aerobic and anaerobic culture media, including five that were hypertonic, Groups studied included fever of unknown origin, suspected endocarditis, endocarditis during therapy, bacteremia during therapy, abscess and cellulitis, presumed infectious arthritis, renal transplantation during rejection, collagen disease, sarcoidosis, lymphoma, and colitis. Isolates in hypertonic media were reverted to parent form by agar passage. In only 5% of these selected cases were organisms found in hypertonic, but not conventional, media that appeared on the basis of repeated isolation and/or serological studies to come from the patient. Nine of the 16 appeared to be of major significance. The two groups in which use of highly enriched, hypertonic media seemed most helpful were suspected endocarditis and undefined meningitis with negative cultures using standard media. The most effective of the hypertonic media used was 0.3 M sucrose in brain heart infusion with 20% horse serum. In most instances, the organism grew only in the hypertonic sucrose, and in most cases it appeared in conventional rather than aberrant form. Hypertonic media, especially 0.3 M sucrose, are of substantial helpin a small number of carefully selected cases.
Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita is an autoimmune blistering disease of the skin characterized by IgG autoantibodies against type VII collagen. Systemic diseases are often associated with epidermolysis bullosa acquisita, Crohn's disease being the most frequent. This study sought to determine if type VII collagen, the epidermolysis bullosa acquisita autoantigen, was present in normal human colon by western blotting and immunofluorescence. The 290 kDa type VII collagen alpha chain was demonstrated by western blotting in four normal intraoperative colon specimens. Antibodies to type VII collagen labeled the junction between the intestinal epithelium and the lamina propria. We also used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to test sera from patients with Crohn's disease (n = 19), ulcerative colitis (n = 31), celiac disease (n = 17), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 15), and normal controls (n = 16). It was found that 13 of 19 patients with Crohn's disease and four of 31 patients with ulcerative colitis demonstrated reactivity to type VII collagen. Sera from control subjects, patients with celiac disease or rheumatoid arthritis were negative. The sera from Crohn's disease patients also reacted with type VII collagen by immunoblot analysis. It was concluded that patients with inflammatory bowel disease may have IgG autoantibodies to type VII collagen, which exists in both the skin and the gut.
Intestinal strictures are a common complication of Crohn's disease leading to serious consequences. With unknown etiology and cellular composition, strictures can be neither prevented nor reversed by current therapeutic strategies, and research has been limited by the lack of a well-developed animal model. We observed the sporadic occurrence of intestinal strictures at Day 35 in the TNBS rat model of colitis, which persisted beyond Day 90. Strictured tissue showed fusion, thickening, and disorganization of the smooth muscle layers. Immunocytochemistry revealed that all strictures were characterized by deficient innervation with a complete loss of intrinsic neurons, and a 92% loss of total axons per area. The number of alpha-smooth muscle actin-positive smooth muscle cells (SMC) increased in strictures, but immunolabeling showed phenotypic modulation of these cells, with the SMC phenotype (desmin-positive, vimentin-negative) entirely replaced by a myofibroblast phenotype (desmin-negative, vimentin-positive). Although cellular structure still predominated in the strictured regions, histochemistry showed increased extracellular matrix collagen, from 6 +/- 0.9% to 22 +/- 4% of total area. With previous evidence for neural loss in colitis, and in vitro studies showing neural regulation of smooth muscle cell (SMC) growth, we conclude that the regional loss of innervation may initiate tissue re-modeling that is characteristic of stricture formation.
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Bacteria and their products stimulate inflammatory responses. Certain mediators, such as transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1), induce collagen synthesis. Excess collagen deposition results in bowel strictures. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of bacteria and TGF-beta1 in the pathogenesis of intestinal fibrosis. METHODS: In rats with colitis, the effects of bowel decontamination with antibiotics on TGF-beta1, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), and collagen content in colonic tissue were studied. In normal rats, bacteria of the predominant flora were inoculated into the colonic wall. The effect of neutralizing antibody to TGF-beta1 on tissue collagen deposition was studied. RESULTS: Rats with chronic colitis showed increased levels of TGF-beta1, TNF-alpha, and collagen in the tissue and a high rate of bowel strictures. Antibiotic treatment significantly prevented the increase in TGF-beta1 and collagen and the formation of strictures. Inoculation of bacterial suspensions into the colonic wall increased tissue TGF-beta1 and collagen content. Neutralizing antibody to TGF-beta1 prevented collagen deposition. Colonic wall inoculations with single anaerobic strains (Clostridium ramosum, Bacteroides fragilis, and Bacteroides uniformis), but not with aerobes, induced collagen deposition. CONCLUSIONS: Certain strains of the common flora stimulate TGF-beta1 and induce deposition of collagen in the colonic wall.
BACKGROUND: Mast cells have been implicated in chronic inflammatory conditions resulting in fibrosis, such as Crohn disease. However, a link between inflammation, fibrosis and mast cells has not been demonstrated in human or animal intestinal diseases. This work was undertaken to analyze whether mast cells play a role in inflammation and fibrosis in the TNBS-induced rat colitis. METHODS: Rats were rectally instilled 2,4,6,-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid in ethanol, and immediately or 4 days later injected daily i.p. with nedocromil sodium, a mast cell stabilizer, compound 48/80, a mast cell activator, or saline. Rats were sacrificed 5 days post-TNBS, or on day 21. Intestinal inflammation and fibrosis were assessed by gross and histopathological evaluation. Colonic mast cell numbers (toluidine blue) and collagen (type I mRNA expression) were evaluated. Mast cell sonicate was added to rat colon fibroblasts. Fibroblast proliferation (3H-thymidine), collagen synthesis (3H-proline) and contractile activity (tridimensional collagen lattice contraction) were then assessed. RESULTS: Nedocromil reduced inflammation and fibrosis possibly by decreasing mast cell numbers and activation and consequent collagen production. Compound 48/80 slightly enhanced the severity of the disease by activating mast cells. Mast cells increased fibroblast proliferation, collagen production and contractile activity. CONCLUSIONS: Mast cells are involved in the gastrointestinal tract inflammation and fibrosis of the TNBS-colitis rats.
Acute phase proteins are synthesized mainly in the liver cells, induced by various inflammatory cytokines which are produced by activated macrophages/monocytes at the inflammatory sites. C-reactive protein is a principal acute phase protein, and increased most significantly upon various inflammations. False negative results may be recognized in the patients with viral infections, collagen diseases such as SLE, PSS, dermatomyositis, ulcerative colitis, Sjögren's syndrome, leukemia, cerebral infarction, etc.
Interleukin (IL)-13 is a major inducer of fibrosis in many chronic infectious and autoimmune diseases. In studies of the mechanisms underlying such induction, we found that IL-13 induces transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta(1) in macrophages through a two-stage process involving, first, the induction of a receptor formerly considered to function only as a decoy receptor, IL-13Ralpha(2). Such induction requires IL-13 (or IL-4) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. Second, it involves IL-13 signaling through IL-13Ralpha(2) to activate an AP-1 variant containing c-jun and Fra-2, which then activates the TGFB1 promoter. In vivo, we found that prevention of IL-13Ralpha(2) expression reduced production of TGF-beta(1) in oxazolone-induced colitis and that prevention of IL-13Ralpha(2) expression, Il13ra2 gene silencing or blockade of IL-13Ralpha(2) signaling led to marked downregulation of TGF-beta(1) production and collagen deposition in bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. These data suggest that IL-13Ralpha(2) signaling during prolonged inflammation is an important therapeutic target for the prevention of TGF-beta(1)-mediated fibrosis.