Thalidomide therapy for infantile-onset Crohn's disease

Chronic Diarrhea as a Debut Manifestation of Crohn’s Disease in Infant: Clinical Case

Background. Chronic diarrhea can be a symptom of a wide variety of diseases, either of which requires special therapy approaches. The diagnosis of rare causes of chronic diarrhea is especially difficulty as it may be associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with very early (under 1 year of age) debut.

Clinical case description. Boy E. had chronic diarrhea manifested on the first year of life. Ulcerative colitis was diagnosed at the age of 1.5 years, then the diagnosis was changed to Crohn’s disease at the age of 2.5 years. The results of 6-years-follow-up of the patient were presented, as well as analysis of diagnosis and treatment difficulties was carried out.

Conclusion. The clinical case of Crohn’s disease with diarrhea as the leading clinical manifestation at the disease onset is described. Sequential diagnostic search allowed us to establish the diagnosis of IBD and to exclude other causes of chronic diarrhea that determined the correct therapeutic strategy. 

Phenotype and Management of Infantile-onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Experience from a Tertiary Care Center in China

BACKGROUND

Infantile-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises rare and clinically severe disorders. We examined the phenotypes and genetic causes of patients with infantile-onset IBD from a tertiary medical center.

METHODS

We enrolled 38 patients with infantile-onset IBD and applied standardized treatment with medical, surgical, and supportive care. Targeted sequencing and whole-exome sequencing were performed. Clinical data were retrieved from medical records.

RESULTS

Median age of onset of disease was 12.5 (interquartile range: 7.0-30.0) days. All patients had diarrhea, whereas 18 (47.4%) patients reported hematochezia. Thirteen (34.2%) patients had oral ulcers, 15 (39.5%) patients had perianal abscess, and 9 (52.9%) female patients had rectovaginal fistula. Six (18.8%) patients had intestinal strictures and 4 (12.1%) patients had perforation. Twelve (31.6%) patients underwent surgical procedures. Median age of surgery was 272.5 days, and cumulative probability for surgery during first year was 32.1%. One-year mortality of patients was 25.9%. Sequencing showed 24 (63.2%) patients had causative IL10RA mutations, 1 patient had EPCAM mutation, 1 patient had TNFAIP3 mutation, and 1 patient had LRBA mutation, whereas causative mutations cannot be identified in the other 11 (28.9%) patients. Umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation has been applied to 8 cases with IL10RA mutations, of whom 5 (71.4%) patients have achieved clinical remission.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with infantile-onset IBD had severe phenotype and early onset. Medical, surgical interventions with supportive care are essential. High-throughput sequencing ensures appropriate treatment. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be performed in selected patients with IL10RA mutations (see Video Abstract, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/IBD/B657).

Crohn's disease: evidence for involvement of unregulated transcytosis in disease etio-pathogenesis

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Research has identified genetic predisposition and environmental factors as key elements in the development of the disease. However, the precise mechanism that initiates immune activation remains undefined. One pathway for luminal antigenic molecules to enter the sterile lamina propria and activate an immune response is via transcytosis. Transcytosis, although tightly regulated by the cell, has the potential for transepithelial transport of bacteria and highly antigenic luminal molecules whose uncontrolled translocation into the lamina propria can be the source of immune activation. Viewed as a whole, the evidence suggests that unregulated intestinal epithelial transcytosis is involved in the inappropriate presentation of immunogenic luminal macromolecules to the intestinal lamina propria. Thus fulfilling the role of an early pre-morbid mechanism that can result in antigenic overload of the lamina propria and initiate an immune response culminating in chronic inflammation characteristic of this disease. It is the aim of this paper to present evidence implicating enterocyte transcytosis in the early etio-pathogenesis of CD.