Microscopic colitis and the role of the specialist inflammatory bowel disease nurse: a clinical review

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 20-26
Author(s):  
Cathy Walsh

Microscopic colitis (MC) is an inflammatory bowel condition similar to but distinct from classical inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Unlike ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, MC is predominately a self-limiting and treatable condition. It is characterised by colonic inflammation and symptoms of watery, non-bloody diarrhoea, alongside abdominal pain and weight loss, causing anxiety, fatigue and reduced quality of life. The prevalence of MC is 119 per 100 000 population and growing. Its aetiology and pathophysiology are poorly understood, but it is likely multifactorial, and possible risk factors include smoking and certain medications and autoimmune conditions. Diagnosis relies on endoscopic biopsy to identify intraepithelial lymphocytosis. Management and treatment begin with excluding possible risk factors and can include anti-diarrhoeal medications, bile acid binders and budesonide, which is highly effective at inducing and maintaining remission. Refractory disease is rare, but it may require biological medications or even surgery. Disease activity is monitored with the Hjortswang criteria and Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity Index. This narrative clinical review draws on recent guidelines and study data to explore the uncertain role of the clinical nurse specialist in caring for these patients.

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S219-S220
Author(s):  
B Scrivo ◽  
C Celsa ◽  
A Busacca ◽  
E Giuffrida ◽  
R M Pipitone ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Prevalence of NAFLD has recently been reported increased in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with conflicting results due to heterogeneity of published studies, especially in the diagnostic definition of NAFLD. The increased risk of NAFLD might be related to traditional risk factors but also to IBD-related factors. The role of genetic markers has been addressed only in one study. The aim of our study has been to assess the prevalence of NAFLD and fibrosis in a homogeneous cohort of patients with IBD, assessing the role of metabolic, disease-related and genetic factors. Methods the diagnosis of NAFLD was based on transient fibroelastometry findings (CAP ≥288 dB/m) and HSI (Hepatic Steatosis Index). Demographic data, traditional risk factors for NAFLD (BMI, lipid profile), comorbities, laboratory tests, disease features (type of IBD, duration, extent, extraintestinal manifestations, relapses/year, disease activity, previous surgery, therapy) were registered in a dedicated database. PNPLA3 rs738409 C>G single nucleotide polymorphism, encoding for I148M protein variant, was investigated by Taqman assay. Results 208 consecutive patients were enrolled: 120 males, 121 Crohn’s disease, 87 ulcerative colitis, mean age 46,4 ± 15,2 years. 26 patients (12,5%) were on steroids, 121 on biologics. The prevalence of NAFLD was 20,7% with mean HSI being 38,3 ± 4,7.On univariate analysis, patients with NAFLD were older (54,6 ± 11,1 years), had higher BMI (28,1 ± 3,9 vs. 24,1 ± 3,8), had more frequently hypertension and high level of LDL and tryglicerides. No significant difference was found as far as concerns gender, number of relapses, extraintestinal manifestations, disease activity and duration and ongoing therapy. Medium stiffness value was higher in patients with NAFLD (6,4 ± 2,4 vs. 4,8 ± 2,2 KPa). CG phenotype of PNAPL3 was more frequent among NAFLD patients, though the result was not significant. On multivariate analysis age, BMI, previous surgery and level of stiffness > 6,9 kPa were independently related to NAFLD. Conclusion This single center cross-sectional study shows that, by using transient elastography, the prevalence of NAFLD in IBD is 20,7% with a significantly increase of liver stiffness and development of fibrosis. NAFLD was related to traditional risk factors (age, BMI, lipid profile) and to previous ileal resection, the last probably due to changes of gut microbiota. Neither intestinal inflammation and drugs nor genetic testing for PNAPL3 seem to be related to the development of NAFLD. Longitudinal studies are warranted to assess the progression of fibrosis and the role of therapeutic interventions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (10) ◽  
pp. 1267-1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelika Hüppe ◽  
Jana Langbrandtner ◽  
Winfried Häuser ◽  
Heiner Raspe ◽  
Bernd Bokemeyer

Abstract Introduction Assessment of disease activity in Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is usually based on the physician’s evaluation of clinical symptoms, endoscopic findings, and biomarker analysis. The German Inflammatory Bowel Disease Activity Index for CD (GIBDICD) and UC (GIBDIUC) uses data from patient-reported questionnaires. It is unclear to what extent the GIBDI agrees with the physicians’ documented activity indices. Methods Data from 2 studies were reanalyzed. In both, gastroenterologists had documented disease activity in UC with the partial Mayo Score (pMS) and in CD with the Harvey Bradshaw Index (HBI). Patient-completed GIBDI questionnaires had also been assessed. The analysis sample consisted of 151 UC and 150 CD patients. Kappa coefficients were determined as agreement measurements. Results Rank correlations were 0.56 (pMS, GIBDIUC) and 0.57 (HBI, GIBDICD), with p < 0.001. The absolute agreement for 2 categories of disease activity (remission yes/no) was 74.2 % (UC) and 76.6 % (CD), and for 4 categories (none/mild/moderate/severe) 60.3 % (UC) and 61.9 % (CD). The kappa values ranged between 0.47 for UC (2 categories) and 0.58 for CD (4 categories). Discussion There is satisfactory agreement of GIBDI with the physician-documented disease activity indices. GIBDI can be used in health care research without access to assessments of medical practitioners. In clinical practice, the index offers a supplementary source of information.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Fu Chen ◽  
Yuan Zhao ◽  
Yu Guo ◽  
Zhi-Ming Huang ◽  
Xie-Lin Huang

Abstract Background We aimed to externally validate for the first time the diagnostic ability of fibrinogen to identify active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods The research totally involved 788 patients with IBD, consisted of 245 ulcerative colitis (UC) and 543 Crohn’ s disease (CD). The Mayo score and Crohn disease activity index (CDAI) assessed disease activity of UC and CD respectively. The independent association between fibrinogen and disease activity of patients with UC or CD was investigated by multivariate logistic regression analyses. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) assessed the performance of various biomarkers in discriminating disease states. Results The fibrinogen levels in active patients with IBD significantly increased compared with those in remission stage (P < 0.001). Fibrinogen was an independent predictor to distinguish disease activity of UC (odds ratio: 2.247, 95% confidence interval: 1.428–3.537, P < 0.001) and CD (odds ratio: 2.124, 95% confidence interval: 1.433–3.148, P < 0.001). Fibrinogen was positively correlated with the Mayo score (r = 0.529, P < 0.001) and CDAI (r = 0.625, P < 0.001). Fibrinogen had a high discriminative capacity for both active UC (AUROC: 0.806, 95% confidence interval: 0.751–0.861) and CD (AUROC: 0.869, 95% confidence interval: 0.839–0.899). The optimum cut-off values of fibrinogen 3.22 was 70% sensitive and 77% specific for active UC, and 3.87 was 77% sensitive and 81% specific for active CD respectively. Conclusions Fibrinogen is a convenient and practical biomarker to identify active IBD.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin A. Allenspach ◽  
Jonathan P. Mochel ◽  
Yingzhou Du ◽  
Simon L. Priestnall ◽  
Frances Moore ◽  
...  

Prior studies have failed to detect a convincing association between histologic lesions of inflammation and clinical activity in dogs with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We hypothesized that use of a simplified histopathologic scoring system would improve the consistency of interpretation among pathologists when describing histologic lesions of gastrointestinal inflammation. Our aim was to evaluate the correlation of histopathologic changes to clinical activity in dogs with IBD using this new system. Forty-two dogs with IBD and 19 healthy control dogs were enrolled in this retrospective study. Endoscopic biopsies from the stomach, duodenum, ileum, and colon were independently scored by 8 pathologists. Clinical disease activity was scored using the Canine Inflammatory Bowel Disease Activity Index (CIBDAI) or the Canine Chronic Enteropathy Clinical Activity Index (CCECAI), depending on the individual study center. Summative histopathological scores and clinical activity were calculated for each tissue (stomach, duodenum, ileum, and colon) and each tissue histologic score (inflammatory/morphologic feature). The correlation between CCECAI/CIBDAI and summative histopathologic score was significant ( P < .05) for duodenum ( r = 0.42) and colon ( r = 0.33). In evaluating the relationship between histopathologic scores and clinical activity, significant ( P < .05) correlations were observed for crypt dilation ( r = 0.42), lamina propria (LP) lymphocytes ( r = 0.40), LP neutrophils ( r = 0.45), mucosal fibrosis ( r = 0.47), lacteal dilation ( r = 0.39), and villus stunting ( r = 0.43). Compared to earlier grading schemes, the simplified scoring system shows improved utility in correlating histopathologic features (both summative histology scores and select histologic scores) to IBD clinical activity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlijn R. Lamers ◽  
Nicole M. de Roos ◽  
Ben J. M. Witteman

Abstract Background Diet may play a role in disease status in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. We tested whether the inflammatory potential of diet, based on a summation of pro- and anti-inflammatory nutrients, is associated with disease activity in patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Methods Participants completed a disease activity questionnaire (short Crohn’s Disease Activity (sCDAI) or Patient Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index (P-SCCAI)) and a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). FFQ data were used to calculate the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) which enables categorization of individuals’ diets according to their inflammatory potential on a continuum from pro- to anti-inflammatory. Associations with disease activity were investigated by multiple linear regression. Results The analysis included 329 participants; 168 with Crohn’s disease (median sCDAI score 93 [IQR 47–156]), and 161 with ulcerative colitis (median P-SCCAI score 1 [IQR 1–3]). Mean DII was 0.71 ± 1.33, suggesting a slightly pro-inflammatory diet. In Crohn’s disease, the DII was positively associated with disease activity, even after adjustment for confounders (p = 0.008). The mean DII was significantly different between participants in remission and with mild and moderately active disease (0.64, 0.97 and 1.52 respectively, p = 0.027). In ulcerative colitis, the association was not significant. Conclusions Disease activity was higher in IBD participants with a more pro-inflammatory diet with statistical significance in Crohn’s disease. Although the direction of causality is not clear, this association strengthens the role for diet in medical treatment, which should be tested in an intervention study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S391-S393
Author(s):  
F de Voogd ◽  
H Joshi ◽  
E Van Wassenaer ◽  
G D’Haens ◽  
K Gecse

Abstract Background Disease activity during pregnancy in women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with miscarriage, preterm delivery and low birth weight. Monitoring disease activity throughout the pregnancy is therefore important. Gastrointestinal ultrasound (GIUS) has a high potential as a point-of-care tool for monitoring disease activity in IBD as it has been shown to correlate well with endoscopy and magnetic resonance imaging. However, data are scarce on the use of GIUS in IBD throughout pregnancy. The aim of this prospective study is to determine the feasibility and reliability of GIUS in pregnant IBD patients. Methods Patients were included when visiting the outpatient IBD pregnancy clinic. At each trimester, clinical and biochemical disease activity was evaluated and GIUS was performed. Feasibility was assessed by the ability to visualise each bowel segment (terminal ileum (TI), ascending (AC), transverse (TC), descending (DC) and sigmoid colon (SC)). Reliability was evaluated by using clinical and biochemical disease activity as a gold standard. This was defined as a Harvey–Bradshaw Index ≥4 in Crohn’s disease (CD) or a Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index ≥5 in ulcerative colitis and a faecal calprotectin (FCP)³ 250 mg/g. Bowel wall thickness (BWT) of &gt; 3 mm in the colon and &gt; 2mm in the terminal ileum was considered as signs of active inflammation on ultrasound. A Mann–Whitney U-test and chi-square were used for statistical analysis. Results Thirty-two IBD patients (54% CD) were studied. Both a GIUS and FCP was available in 18, 11 and 6 patients for the first, second and third trimester, respectively. Eleven of 32 (34%) patients had clinically active disease at least at one time point during the pregnancy. Table 1 shows the visibility per segment. When the active disease was defined as an FCP ≥ 250 mg/g, GIUS could distinguish active from the non-active disease in the first, second and third trimester with a sensitivity of 80%, 75% and 75% and specificity of 85%, 86% and 100%, respectively. FCP levels were significantly higher in patients with an active disease on GIUS regardless of the trimester (mean 1095.5 ± 1453.8 mg/g vs. 265.25 ± 649.8 mg/g, p &lt; 0.0001). Conclusion GIUS is accurate to distinguish active from the quiescent disease in pregnancy. Feasibility to visualise the TI and the SC decreased during the second and third trimester, although active disease could still be detected. Consequently, GIUS is feasible and reliable to assess disease activity throughout pregnancy in IBD.


2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (6) ◽  
pp. G878-G883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengxin Lu ◽  
Stacey M. Fernandes ◽  
Alvin E. Davis

The complement and contact systems may be involved in the pathophysiological process of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). C1 inhibitor (C1INH) is the most important inhibitor of both the complement and contact systems. We evaluated the role of these systems and the effect of both active and inactive forms of C1INH (iC1INH) in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mouse model. Three percent DSS was used in drinking water to induce colitis in complement C3-deficient (C3−/−) mice, bradykinin type 2 receptor deficient (Bk2R−/−) mice, and C57BL/6 mice. After ten days DSS exposure, C3−/− mice exhibited markedly less weight loss than wild-type (WT) mice (12 ± 3.3% vs. 30 ± 1.2%, P < 0.05) and developed a milder disease-activity index (DAI), histological score, colon shortening, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) elevation ( P < 0.05, respectively). The Bk2R−/− mice were not protected from the disease. Seven-day treatment with either native C1INH or iC1INH reduced the severity of the disease in WT mice, as indicated by decreased weight loss (15 ± 1.8%, 14 ± 2.1% vs. 30 ± 1.2%, P < 0.05, respectively), DAI, intestinal tissue damage, and MPO elevation compared with untreated WT DSS control mice ( P < 0.05, respectively). These findings suggest that complement plays a role in the development of DSS-induced colitis and that blockade of the complement system might be useful for the acute phase of IBD treatment. C1INH, however, leads to an amelioration of DSS-induced colitis via a mechanism that does not involve the inhibition of complement or contact system activation but does result in significant suppression of leukocyte infiltration.


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