Daily Archives: January 18, 2018

Children with acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASC) often require hospitalization. Colectomy is needed for medically intractable disease. Patients often undergo endoscopy to exclude opportunistic infections and assess disease severity and extent. There… Continue reading →

While the effects of biologic agents on post-operative outcomes in Crohn’s disease patients is well-established, the effects on intra-operative variables including blood loss, operative time and length of small bowel resection remains to be determined. Continue reading →

Sprouty (SPRY), endogenous suppressor of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling is reported to be tumor suppressor in various cancers, whereas we demonstrated that SPRY2 illustrates tumor promoting characteristics in colorectal cancer (CRC) [Oncogene, 2016… Continue reading →

The majority of children who undergo colectomy for intractable Ulcerative Colitis (UC) receive an ileal pouch anal anastomosis (commonly J-pouch) to restore bowel continuity. After surgery, patients report similar quality of life, physical function and… Continue reading →

Interleukin (IL-)33 is a cytokine that possesses dichotomous functions in the gut. Whereas various cell types have been reported to produce IL-33, conventionally it is believed to be released from damaged intestinal epithelial cells. Many cell types ex… Continue reading →

Vedolizumab (VDZ), a gut-selective anti-integrin monoclonal antibody, was approved for the treatment of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) in 2014. VDZ is reported to achieve maximal efficacy after several months of therapy. This real-w… Continue reading →

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are an emerging cell therapeutic for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), have demonstrated immunomodulatory effects through interactions with T cells and dendritic cells (DCs). Continue reading →

Extraintestinal complications are common in IBD, and are reported in more than 25% of patients. Anemia is one of the most common manifestations of IBD. One-third of patients with IBD have hemoglobin levels below 12 g/dL. Although ongoing blood loss fro… Continue reading →

Matrix Metalloproteinases 9 (MMP-9) has been implicated to have a key pathogenic factor in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). MMP-9 is elevated in intestinal tissue of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD patients have a defective intesti… Continue reading →

Hospitalized children with severe Ulcerative Colitis who are steroid unresponsive often receive Infliximab (IFX). Standard IFX induction dose is 5mg/kg weeks 0, 2 & 6. The rationale for intensified infliximab induction (III) in severe UC is: higher inflammatory burden, increase in IFX clearance & stool losses. There are no pediatric data on the outcomes of III. Continue reading →