Ulcerative Colitis: Khan F

Marchesi JR, Holmes E, Khan F, Kochhar S, Scanlan P, Shanahan F, Wilson ID, Wang Y. · Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre and Department of Microbiology, University College Cork, College Road, Cork, Ireland. · J Proteome Res. · Pubmed #17269711 No free full text.

Abstract: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) have a major impact on the health of individuals and populations. Accurate diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) at an early stage, and correct differentiation between Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is important for optimum treatment and prognosis. We present here the first characterization of fecal extracts obtained from patients with CD and UC by employing a noninvasive metabonomics approach, which combines high resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy and multivariate pattern recognition techniques. The fecal extracts of both CD and UC patients were characterized by reduced levels of butyrate, acetate, methylamine, and trimethylamine in comparison with a control population, suggesting changes in the gut microbial community. Also, elevated quantities of amino acids were present in the feces from both disease groups, implying malabsorption caused by the inflammatory disease or an element of protein losing enteropathy. Metabolic differences in fecal profiles were more marked in the CD group in comparison with the control group, indicating that the inflammation caused by CD is more extensive in comparison with UC and involves the whole intestine. Furthermore, glycerol resonances were a dominant feature of fecal spectra from patients with CD but were present in much lower intensity in the control and UC groups. This work illustrates the potential of metabonomics to generate novel noninvasive diagnostics for gastrointestinal diseases and may further our understanding of disease mechanisms.

Kugathasan S, Judd RH, Hoffmann RG, Heikenen J, Telega G, Khan F, Weisdorf-Schindele S, San Pablo W, Perrault J, Park R, Yaffe M, Brown C, Rivera-Bennett MT, Halabi I, Martinez A, Blank E, Werlin SL, Rudolph CD, Binion DG, Anonymous00155. · Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA. · J Pediatr. · Pubmed #14571234 No free full text.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To define epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of newly diagnosed pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a large population-based model. STUDY DESIGN: All pediatric gastroenterologists providing care for Wisconsin children voluntarily identified all new cases of IBD during a 2-year period. Demographic and clinical data were sent to a central registry prospectively for analysis. RESULTS: The incidence of IBD in Wisconsin children was 7.05 per 100,000, whereas the incidence for Crohn's disease was 4.56, more than twice the rate of ulcerative colitis (2.14). An equal IBD incidence occurred among all ethnic groups, and children from sparsely and densely populated counties were equally affected. The majority (89%) of new IBD diagnoses were nonfamilial. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides novel, prospective, and comprehensive information on pediatric IBD incidence within the United States. The surprisingly high incidence of pediatric IBD, the predominance of Crohn's disease over ulcerative colitis, the low frequency of patients with a family history, the equal distribution of IBD among all racial and ethnic groups, and the lack of a modulatory effect of urbanization on IBD incidence collectively suggest that the clinical spectrum of IBD is still evolving and point to environmental factors contributing to the pathogenesis.