1,720,999 research outputs found
COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY CAN IDENTIFY DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF BOWEL WALL THICKENING RELATED TO CROHNS-DISEASE ACTIVITY
No full textTGF-beta 1 and Smad7 in the regulation of IBD
No full textInflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are caused by an aberrant and excessive local immune response to components of the bacterial microflora that are: poorly controlled by endogenous counter regulatory mechanisms such as the immunosuppressive cytokine transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1). Studies in human IBD tissues have documented a disruption of TGF-beta 1 signaling marked by a block in the phosphorylation of the activated TGF-beta receptor-associated signaling molecule, Smad3, caused by the upregulation of the intracellular inhibitor of Smad signaling, Smad7. Inhibition of Smad7 with a specific antisense oligonucleotide restores TGF-beta 1/Smad3 signaling, resulting in a marked suppression of inflammatory cytokine production. The functional relevance of Smad7 in gut inflammation was confirmed by studies in murine models of IBD. In inflamed tissues of mice with colitis induced by either the trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid or oxazolone, p-Smad3 was low despite active TGF-beta 1 being produced in excess. In vivo administration of Smad7 antisense oligonucleotides to mice with colitis restored TGF-beta 1 signaling and decreased the synthesis of inflammatory molecules and the extent of gut damage. These data support a role for Smad7 in maintaining intestinal inflammation, and suggest that blocking Smad7 could be a promising way to dampen the ongoing inflammation in IBD
Definition of the initial immunologic modifications upon in vitro gliadin challenge in the small intestine of coeliac patients
No full textComputed tomography of bowel wall in patients with Crohn's disease: relationship of infiammatory activity to biological to biological indices.
No full textBowel wall thickening in Crohn's disease can be demonstrated by Computed Tomography. The aim of this investigation was to correlate different patterns of bowel wall thickening, detected with Computed Tomography, with serological parameters of activity of Crohn's disease. Thirty-eight patients (24 males, 14 females, aged 21 to 62 years) were studied. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to Computed Tomography appearance of bowel wall: 1) homogeneous symmetrical thickening of wall; 2) bowel showing a layer of submucosal low attenuation; 3) scarred narrowing of wall producing stenosis. A patient was considered to have biochemically active disease if at least 2 of the following parameters were abnormal: ESR, C-reactive protein, seromucoids, serum albumin, serum alpha-2 globulin. The first group comprised 20 patients (16 active disease, 4 inactive) and the second group 13 (all inactive); the 2 groups showed a significant difference (Fisher exact test: p < 0.0005) in biological activity. Since only 5 patients belonged to the third group (3 active, 2 inactive disease), no definite conclusion can be drawn on the possible correlation between this Computed Tomography pattern and activity of disease. Results shows a correlation between Computed Tomography patterns of bowel wall disease and biochemical activity of Crohn's disease
Definition of the initial immunologic modifications upon in vitro gliadin challenge in the small intestine of coeliac patients
No full textEffects of somatostatin on human intestinal lamina propria lymphocytes. Modulation of lymphocyte activation
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
In vitro azathioprine-induced changes in peripheral T cell apoptosis and IFN-γ production associate with drug response in patients with Crohn's Disease
No full textThe use of the highly effective thiopurines as early therapeutic option in Crohn's Disease (CD) may be discouraged by the long time interval required to obtain clinical efficacy as also by their potential side effects. The development of non-invasive markers of responsiveness to thiopurines represents a major attempt in the clinical management of CD patients. Azathioprine is able to induce apoptosis of T cells. We studied the effect of thiopurines on "in vitro" T cell apoptosis, IFN-γ and IL-10 production in a group of CD patients with known response to a previous treatment with AZA
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