PURPOSE:

To quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the water-signal performance of the consistent intensity inhomogeneity correction (CIIC) method to correct for intensity inhomogeneities METHODS: Water-fat volumes were acquired using 1.5 Tesla (T) and 3.0T symmetrically sampled 2-point Dixon three-dimensional MRI. Two datasets: (i) 10 muscle tissue regions of interest (ROIs) from 10 subjects acquired with both 1.5T and 3.0T whole-body MRI. (ii) Seven liver tissue ROIs from 36 patients imaged using 1.5T MRI at six time points after Gd-EOB-DTPA injection. The performance of CIIC was evaluated quantitatively by analyzing its impact on the dispersion and bias of the water image ROI intensities, and qualitatively using side-by-side image comparisons.

RESULTS:

CIIC significantly ( P1.5T≤2.3×10-4,P3.0T≤1.0×10-6) decreased the nonphysiological intensity variance while preserving the average intensity levels. The side-by-side comparisons showed improved intensity consistency ( Pint⁡≤10-6) while not introducing artifacts ( Part=0.024) nor changed appearances ( Papp≤10-6).

CONCLUSION:

CIIC improves the spatiotemporal intensity consistency in regions of a homogenous tissue type. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2014.

Objectives: To qualitatively evaluate late dynamic contrast phases, 10, 20 and 30 min, after administration of Gd-EOB-DTPA with regard to biliary excretion in patients presenting with elevated liver enzymes without any clinical signs of cirrhosis or hepatic decompensation and to compare the visual assessment of contrast agent excretion with histo-pathological fibrosis stage, contrast uptake parameters and blood tests.

Methods: 29 patients were prospectively examined using 1.5-T MRI. The visually assessed presence (1) or absence (0) of contrast agent for each of five anatomical regions in randomly reviewed time-series was summarised on a four grade scale. The scores, including a total visual score, were related to the histo-pathological findings, the quantitative contrast agent uptake parameters and blood tests

Results: No relationship between the fibrosis grade or contrast uptake parameters expressed as KHep or LSC_N could be established. A negative correlation between the visual assessment and ALP was found. Comparing a sub-group of cholestatic patients with fibrosis score and Gd-EOB-DTPAdynamic parameters did not add any additional significant correlation.

Conclusions: In this prospective study with a limited number of patients we were not able to demonstrate a correlation between visually assessed biliary excretion of Gd-EOB-DTPA and  histo-pathological or contrast uptake parameters.

Objective The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in Eastern Europe. The reasons for these changes remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an East–West gradient in the incidence of IBD in Europe exists.

Design A prospective, uniformly diagnosed, population based inception cohort of IBD patients in 31 centres from 14 Western and eight Eastern European countries covering a total background population of approximately 10.1 million people was created. One-third of the centres had previous experience with inception cohorts. Patients were entered into a low cost, web based epidemiological database, making participation possible regardless of socioeconomic status and prior experience.

Results 1515 patients aged 15 years or older were included, of whom 535 (35%) were diagnosed with Crohn's disease (CD), 813 (54%) with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 167 (11%) with IBD unclassified (IBDU). The overall incidence rate ratios in all Western European centres were 1.9 (95% CI 1.5 to 2.4) for CD and 2.1 (95% CI 1.8 to 2.6) for UC compared with Eastern European centres. The median crude annual incidence rates per 100 000 in 2010 for CD were 6.5 (range 0–10.7) in Western European centres and 3.1 (range 0.4–11.5) in Eastern European centres, for UC 10.8 (range 2.9–31.5) and 4.1 (range 2.4–10.3), respectively, and for IBDU 1.9 (range 0–39.4) and 0 (range 0–1.2), respectively. In Western Europe, 92% of CD, 78% of UC and 74% of IBDU patients had a colonoscopy performed as the diagnostic procedure compared with 90%, 100% and 96%, respectively, in Eastern Europe. 8% of CD and 1% of UC patients in both regions underwent surgery within the first 3 months of the onset of disease. 7% of CD patients and 3% of UC patients from Western Europe received biological treatment as rescue therapy. Of all European CD patients, 20% received only 5-aminosalicylates as induction therapy.

Conclusions An East–West gradient in IBD incidence exists in Europe. Among this inception cohort—including indolent and aggressive cases—international guidelines for diagnosis and initial treatment are not being followed uniformly by physicians.

Background and aims: The thiopurines are widely used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, but are limited by poor dose effect relationship. The objective was to assess the ability of a novel assay, determining the mono-, di-, and triphosphates, of thioguanine as well as methylthioinosine as individual metabolites in erythrocytes, to predict clinical outcome compared to a routine assay, determining metabolites as sums. Methods: Samples from 79 patients with Crohns disease or ulcerative colitis treated with azathioprine or mercaptopurine were analysed by both assays. Clinical status was determined by the Harvey-Bradshaw and Walmsley indices. The genotypes of thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) and inosine triphosphatase were determined. Results: TPMT wild-type patients with thioguanine nucleotide (TGN) levels below the cut-off level were more likely to have active disease when TGN was measured by the novel assay (p = 0.02), and when thioguanosine triphosphate (TGTP) was measured separately (p = 0.01). When TGN was measured by the routine assay the correlation was not evident (p = 0.12). Neither TGN levels nor TGTP correlated to disease activity in TPMT deficient patients. Patients with methyl thioinosine nucleotide (meTIN) levels above 1500 pmol/8 x 10less than^greater than8 RBCs were more likely to have active disease (p = 0.07). We observed good correlations between the mono-, di-, and triphosphates and their respective sums (R-2 greater than 0.88). Conclusions: The novel TGN assay was better in predicting clinical outcome compared to the routine assay, while determination of TGTP had no clinical advantage and TGTP ratio was not correlated to disease activity. (C) 2014 European Crohns and Colitis Organisation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

AIM: To investigate a possible genetic influence of claudin (CLDN) 1, CLDN2 and CLDN4 in the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS: Allelic association between genetic regions of CLDN1, CLDN2 or CLDN4 and patients with inflammatory bowel disease, Crohns disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis were investigated using both a case-control study approach (one case randomly selected from each of 191 Swedish inflammatory bowel disease families and 333 controls) and a family-based study (463 non-Swedish European inflammatory bowel disease-families). A nonsynonymous coding single nucleotide polymorphism in MORC4, located on the same linkage block as CLDN2, was investigated for association, as were two novel CLDN2 single nucleotide polymorphism markers, identified by resequencing. RESULTS: A single nucleotide polymorphism marker (rs12014762) located in the genetic region of CLDN2 was significantly associated to CD (case-control allelic OR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.17-3.35, P = 0.007). MORC4 was present on the same linkage block as this CD marker. Using the case-control approach, a significant association (case control allelic OR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.08-2.41, P = 0.018) was found between CD and a nonsynonymous coding single nucleotide polymorphism (rs6622126) in MORC4. The association between the CLDN2 marker and CD was not replicated in the family-based study. Ulcerative colitis was not associated to any of the single nucleotide polymorphism markers. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that a variant of the CLDN2-MORC4 region predisposes to CD in a Swedish population.

Background: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) acts as an acute phase protein with regenerative properties. HGF is produced systemically and locally during inflammation but exhibits decreased binding affinity to heparan sulphate proteoglycan (HSPG)/glycosaminoglycan during chronic inflammation. We previously observed a high faecal concentration and binding affinity of HGF to HSPG during acute gastroenteritis. High faecal concentrations of calprotectin and HGF have been reported in chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: Stool samples from patients with ulcerative colitis in remission (n = 11) or exacerbation (n = 5), microscopic colitis (n = 11), colon cancer (n = 6), or acute gastroenteritis caused by Clostridium difficile (n = 20), as well as healthy controls (n = 7), were analysed for the presence of HGF by ELISA, surface plasmon resonance, SDS-PAGE, and Western blot. Then in two patients with ulcerative colitis exacerbation and C. difficile infection, the expression of HGF and calprotectin was studied in colonic biopsies.

Results: The faecal concentration of HGF was significantly higher in patients with ulcerative colitis compared to the other groups. The binding affinity to dextran was lower in all groups compared to acute inflammation. HGF receptor binding was similar across groups. In a patient with concomitant C. difficile infection and distal ulcerative colitis, HGF was highly expressed in the part of the bowel unaffected by ulcerative colitis, but no expression was found at the site of chronic inflammation. In the patient with total colitis the biopsies showed low expression of HGF. The areas with chronic inflammation exhibited infiltrating calprotectin-stained neutrophils.

Conclusion: HGF is produced locally during inflammation of the bowel. The HGF produced during acute inflammation or exacerbations of chronic inflammation by the unaffected area shows binding affinity to glucosaminoglycans. Measuring HGF binding in faeces and biopsies may be a tool for differentiating between acute and chronic bowel inflammation, which should be assessed thoroughly in future studies.

Background and Aims

Thiopurines are effective to induce and maintain remission in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The methyl thioinosine monophosphate (meTIMP)/6-thioguanine nucleotide (6-TGN) concentration ratio has been associated with drug efficacy. Here we explored the molecular basis of differences in metabolite profiles and in relation to disease activity.

Methods

Transcriptional profiles in blood samples from an exploratory IBD-patient cohort (n = 21) with a normal thiopurine S-methyltransferase phenotype and meTIMP/6-TGN ratios >20, 10.0–14.0 and ≤4, respectively, were assessed by hybridization to microarrays. Results were further evaluated with RT qPCR in an expanded patient cohort (n = 54). Additionally, 30 purine/thiopurine related genes were analysed separately.

Results

Among 17 genes identified by microarray-screening, there were none with a known relationship to pathways of purines/thiopurines. For nine of them a correlation between expression level and the concentration of meTIMP, 6-TGN and/or the meTIMP/6-TGN ratio was confirmed in the expanded cohort. Nine of the purine/thiopurine related genes were identified in the expanded cohort to correlate with meTIMP, 6-TGN and/or the meTIMP/6-TGN ratio. However, only small differences in gene expression levels were noticed over the three different metabolite profiles. The expression levels of four genes identified by microarray screening (PLCB2, HVCN1, CTSS, and DEF8) and one purine/thiopurine related gene (NME6) correlated significantly with the clinical activity of Crohn’s disease. Additionally, 16 of the genes from the expanded patient cohort interacted in networks with candidate IBD susceptibility genes.

Conclusions

Seventeen of the 18 genes which correlated with thiopurine metabolite levels also correlated with disease activity or participated in networks with candidate IBD susceptibility genes involved in processes such as purine metabolism, cytokine signaling, and functioning of invariant natural killer T cells, T cells and B cells. Therefore, we conclude that the identified genes to a large extent are related to drug targets and disease mechanisms of IBD.

BackgroundRescue therapy with infliximab (IFX) has been proven effective in a steroid-refractory attack of ulcerative colitis (UC). The long-term efficacy is not well described. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanAimTo present a retrospective study of IFX as rescue therapy in UC. Primary end points were colectomy-free survival at 3 and 12months. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethodsIn this multicentre study, 211 adult patients hospitalised between 1999 and 2010 received IFX 5mg/kg as rescue therapy due to a steroid-refractory, moderate-to-severe attack of UC. Exclusion criteria were duration of current flare for andgt;12weeks, corticosteroid treatment for andgt;8weeks before hospitalisation, previous IFX therapy or Crohns disease. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResultsProbability of colectomy-free survival at 3months was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.64-0.77), at 12months 0.64 (95% CI, 0.57-0.70), at 3years 0.59 (95% CI, 0.52-0.66) and at 5years 0.53 (95% CI, 0.44-0.61). Steroid-free, clinical remission was achieved in 105/211 (50%) and 112/209 (54%) patients at 3 and 12months respectively. Of 75 colectomies during the first year, 48 (64%) were carried out during the first 14days, 13 (17%) on days 15-90 and 14 (19%) between 3 and 12months. There were three (1.4%) deaths during the first 3months. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusionsInfliximab is an effective rescue treatment, both short- and long-term, in a steroid-refractory attack of UC. Most IFX failures underwent surgery during the first 14days, which calls for studies on how to optimise induction treatment with IFX. Serious complications, including mortality, were rare.

Objective. Development of ascites in patients with liver cirrhosis is an ominous sign with a poor outcome. A liver transplantation must be considered, and it then becomes important to know if there are any factors indicating a worsened prognosis. Material and methods. We used official registers for a follow-up study of at least 5 years considering the prognosis of 155 prospectively recruited in-patients with cirrhotic ascites from medical units at nine Swedish university hospitals. All patients had undergone at least one diagnostic ascites tap, and had initially been questioned about background factors and physically examined according to a standardized case record form, followed by sampling of blood, urine, and ascites. Results. Death occurred within 1 year after inclusion in 53% of the cases, and was primarily liver-related in 70%. In a multivariable analysis, the two ordinary variables that showed the strongest correlation with risk of death were serum potassium and abdominal tenderness. All 22 patients with a serum potassium concentration of at least 4.8 mmol/L (maximum 5.8 mmol/L) died within 1 year after inclusion. Potassium concentration was related to renal function and potassium-saving drugs. Conclusion. This follow-up study of a prospectively recruited cohort of in-patients with cirrhotic ascites confirms their poor prognosis. Awareness of an elevated serum potassium value, which would reflect a threatened renal function, seems essential, because it may offer a simple way to identify cases with the worst prognosis. An area for further research should be to explore the significance of including serum potassium in prognostic models.