Atypical Presentation of Colonic Diverticular Disease

Hematochezia or passage of fresh blood per rectum is a relatively common finding in medical practice which mostly indicates lower gastrointestinal bleeding. The causes for lower gastrointestinal bleeding include diverticular disease, vascular ectasia, ischemic, inflammatory or infectious colitis, colonic neoplasia, hemorrhoids, anal fissures and small bowel lesions (Crohn’s disease, Vascularectasia, Meckel’s diverticulum).If a patient comes with severe hematochezia, the first and foremost task is to stabilize the patient and then find out the source of bleeding as soon as possible. Elderly patients presenting with severe hematochezia, is most likely due to colorectal malignancy but benign causes like colonic diverticulosis can also present as life threatening bleeding in rare occasions. Here we report a case of 70-years-old male patient presenting with severe painless hematochezia leading to severe anemia due to diverticulosis. Bangladesh J Medicine July 2022; 33(1) : 94-98

Intestinal Growth in Glucagon Receptor Knockout Mice Is Not Associated With the Formation of AOM/DSS-Induced Tumors

Treatment with exogenous GLP-2 has been shown to accelerate the growth of intestinal adenomas and adenocarcinomas in experimental models of colonic neoplasia, however, the role of endogenous GLP-2 in tumor promotion is less well known. Mice with a global deletion of the glucagon receptor (Gcgr-/-) display an increase in circulating GLP-1 and GLP-2. Due to the intestinotrophic nature of GLP-2, we hypothesized that Gcgr-/- mice would be more susceptible to colonic dysplasia in a model of inflammation-induced colonic carcinogenesis. Female Gcgr-/- mice were first characterized for GLP-2 secretion and in a subsequent study they were given a single injection with the carcinogen azoxymethane (7.5 mg/kg) and treated with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) (3%) for six days (n=19 and 9). A cohort of animals (n=4) received a colonoscopy 12 days following DSS treatment and all animals were sacrificed after six weeks. Disruption of glucagon receptor signaling led to increased GLP-2 secretion (p<0.0001) and an increased concentration of GLP-2 in the pancreas of Gcgr-/- mice, coinciding with an increase in small intestinal (p<0.0001) and colonic (p<0.05) weight. Increased villus height was recorded in the duodenum (p<0.001) and crypt depth was increased in the duodenum and jejunum (p<0.05 and p<0.05). Disruption of glucagon receptor signaling did not affect body weight during AOM/DSS treatment, neither did it affect the inflammatory score assessed during colonoscopy or the number of large and small adenomas present at the end of the study period. In conclusion, despite the increased endogenous GLP-2 secretion Gcgr-/- mice were not more susceptible to AOM/DSS-induced tumors.

Chronic Hepatitis C as a Risk Factor for Colonic Neoplasia in a Community Setting

An estimated 3.5 million people have Chronic Hepatitis C (CHC) in the United States [1]. With the current opioid epidemic, the number of people who are injecting drugs in the US. Has substantially increased the incidence of CHC virus [2]. With an apparent second wave of CHC, it will be important to manage the sequelae of these chronically infected patients and recognize associated comorbidities. CHC has been shown to increase the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and has been linked to such malignancies as Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cholangiocarcinoma, breast, pancreatic, renal, skin/oral, thyroid, and colon cancer [3-6]. Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men in developed countries and the third most prevalent cause of death from cancer for women [7]. Colorectal Cancer (CRC) screening has been shown to reduce the risk for the development of CRC and prevent the development of more advanced disease [8,9]. The risks for developing colorectal cancer are associated with increasing age, family history, history of adenomas or Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) and ethnicity. Other possible risk factors include a high fat, low-fiber diet, obesity, smoking, and excessive alcohol use. A possible link between colon cancer and CHC has not been extensively studied. However, previous studies have suggested that patients with CHC have a higher risk of colonic adenomas and more advanced lesions. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine if patients with CHC undergoing screening or surveillance colonoscopies in a community setting have an increased risk of colonic neoplasia.