Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasis with juvenile polyposis syndrome: a case report

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasis (HHT) and juvenile polyposis syndrome (JPS) are both relatively rare hereditary disorders. It has been reported that patients with SMAD4 mutations may suffer from both HHT and JPS, defined as JPS/HHT. To improve the understanding and diagnosis of these diseases, we herein report a case of a 17-year-old male with abdominal pain and hematochezia. Low-tension computed tomography (CT) of the small intestine showed intussusception. Combined with the patient's medical history of nasal bleeding and pulmonary arteriovenous fistula (pAVF) embolism, a final diagnosis of JPS/HHT was reached, according to the Curaçao Diagnostic Criteria. The possibility of JPS/HHT should be considered in patients with epistaxis and intussusception.

Global research trends of immunotherapy and biotherapy for inflammatory bowel disease: a bibliometric analysis from 2002 to 2021

Background

It is known that inflammatory bowel disease is the result of a defective immune system, and immunotherapy and biological therapy have gradually become important means to treat it. This paper focused on the bibliometric statistical analysis of the current research progress to summarize the research status of this field and analyze the research trends in recent years.

Methods

Two visualization tools, CiteSpace and VOSviewer, were used to explore the data of journals, institutions, countries/regions, authors, references, and keywords for the literature included in the Web of Science Core Collection from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2021.

Results

A total of 312 papers were published in 120 journals by 603 institutions from 40 countries/regions, with 9463 co-cited references. The United States has the most publications with the highest total citations in the world. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases published the maximum number of papers, and Gastroenterology devoted the most co-citations to immunotherapy and biological therapy for IBD. In addition, we found that the studies before 2009 mostly focused on clinical trials while researchers have paid more attention to clinical management in therapy for IBD since 2009. Combination therapy and management of the treatment for the disease have become research hotspots.

Conclusion

The focus of immunotherapy and biotherapy for IBD has shifted from clinical trials to the management of the risks and benefits of immunotherapy.

Characteristics of mucosa-associated gut microbiota during treatment in Crohn’s disease

BACKGROUND

The dysbiosis of the gut microbiome is evident in Crohn’s disease (CD) compared with healthy controls (HC), although the alterations from active CD to remission after treatment are unclear.

AIM

To characterize the mucosa-associated gut microbiota in patients with CD before and after the induction therapy.

METHODS

The basic information was collected from the subjects and the CD activity index (CDAI) was calculated in patients. A 16S rRNA sequencing approach was applied to determine the structures of microbial communities in mucosal samples including the terminal ileal, ascending colon, descending colon and rectum. The composition and function of mucosa-associated gut microbiota were compared between samples from the same cohort of patients before and after treatment. Differential taxa were identified to calculate the microbial dysbiosis index (MDI) and the correlation between MDI and CDAI was analyzed using Pearson correlation test. Predictive functional profiling of microbial communities was obtained with PICRUSt.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in microbial richness among the four anatomical sites in individuals. Compared to active disease, the alpha diversity of CD in remission was increased towards the level of HC compared to the active stage. The principal coordinate analysis revealed that samples of active CD were clearly separated from those in remission, which clustered close to HC. Sixty-five genera were identified as differentially abundant between active and quiescent CD, with a loss of Fusobacterium and a gain of potential beneficial bacteria including Lactobacillus, Akkermansia, Roseburia, Ruminococcus and Lachnospira after the induction of remission. The combination of these taxa into a MDI showed a positive correlation with clinical disease severity and a negative correlation with species richness. The increased capacity for the inferred pathways including Lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis and Lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis proteins in patients before treatment negatively correlated with the abundance of Roseburia, Ruminococcus and Lachnospira.

CONCLUSION

The dysbiosis of mucosa-associated microbiota was associated with the disease phenotype and may become a potential diagnostic tool for the recurrence of disease.

Value of endoscopic intestinal stent placement in treatment of colorectal cancer complicated with intestinal obstruction

AIM: To evaluate the safety, efficacy and value of endoscopic intestinal stent placement in the treatment of colorectal cancer complicated with acute intestinal obstruction.

METHODS: A total of 263 patients with colorectal cancer complicated with intestinal obstruction treated at our hospital from January 2010 to December 2014 were included. Stenting treatment was performed under endoscopy and (or) X-ray. The rate of success, the incidence of postoperative complications, the rate of symptom remission, the rate of surgical excision and other indicators were evaluated.

RESULTS: Stent implantation was successful in 258 (98.1%) cases. The rates of adverse events were: perforation, 1.1% (3 cases); hemorrhage, 3.8% (10 cases); fever, 4.6% (12 cases), and others such as stent dislocation and migration, 3.0% (8 cases). The rates of symptom remission were: abdominal pain, 97.3% (256 cases); abdominal distension, 97.3% (258 cases); and anal dysfunction, 98.1% (258 cases). The rates of surgical resection were: 60 cases for palliative treatment, 198 cases for surgical resection 5-13 d after stent implantation after intestinal preparation, and 143 cases for removal of the tumor by one-stage operation.

CONCLUSION: The symptoms of intestinal obstruction can be relieved by endoscopic intestinal stenting. Emergency endoscopic stenting can be used as a bridge treatment before operation, and it can turn emergency operation to elective surgery, turn two-stage operation to one-stage operation, reduce the difficulty and risk of operation for clinicians, reduce the incidence of postoperative complications, relieve pain, and improve survival quality.

Differences in clinical features of Crohn's disease and intestinal tuberculosis

AIM: To investigate the clinical features of Crohn’s disease (CD) and intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) with a scoring system that we have developed.

METHODS: A total of 25 CD and 40 ITB patients were prospectively enrolled from August 2011 to July 2012. Their characteristics and clinical features were recorded. Laboratory, endoscopic, histologic and radiographic features were determined. The features with a high specificity were selected to establish a scoring system. The features supporting CD scored +1, and those supporting ITB scored -1; each patient received a final total score. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the best cut-off value for distinguishing CD from ITB.

RESULTS: Based on a high specificity of differentiating between CD and ITB, 12 features, including longitudinal ulcers, nodular hyperplasia, cobblestone-like mucosa, intestinal diseases, intestinal fistula, the target sign, the comb sign, night sweats, the purified protein derivative test, the interferon-γ release assay (T-SPOT.TB), ring ulcers and ulcer scars, were selected for the scoring system. The results showed that the average total score of the CD group was 3.12 ± 1.740, the average total score of the ITB group was -2.58 ± 0.984, the best cutoff value for the ROC curve was -0.5, and the diagnostic area under the curve was 0.997, which was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The patients whose total scores were higher than -0.5 were diagnosed with CD; otherwise, patients were diagnosed with ITB. Overall, the diagnostic accuracy rate and misdiagnosis rate of this scoring system were 97% and 3%, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Some clinical features are valuable for CD and ITB diagnosis. The described scoring system is key to differentiating between CD and ITB.

Haptoglobin-hemoglobin complex. Subunit interaction probed by cross-linking

Haptoglobin-hemoglobin complex has been cross-linked using the bifunctional reagent 1,5-difluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-acrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that specific cross-linking was obtained between haptoglobin H chain and a hemoglobin chain. The cross-linked complex was reduced and denatured, and the cross-linked subunits were separated from the unreacted haptoglobin and hemoglobin chains by molecular sieve chromatography. Peptide analysis on the purified cross-linked subunits showed that haptoglobin H chain was cross-linked to hemoglobin beta chain only. This result indicates that the H and beta chains are in close proximity in the haptoglobin-hemoglobin complex.