Showing papers by "K.H. Katsanos published in 2008"

Ear-nose-throat manifestations in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Abstract: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) refer to a group of chronic inflammatory disorders involving the gastrointestinal tract and are typically divided into two major disorders: Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). CD is characterized by noncontiguous chronic inflammation, often transmural with noncaseating granuloma formation. It can involve any portion of the alimentary tract and CD inflammation has often been described in the nose, mouth, larynx and esophagus in addition to the more common small bowel and colon sites. UC differs from CD in that it is characterized by contiguous chronic inflammation without transmural involvement, but extraintestinal manifestations of UC have also been described. During the last few years many authors have reported serious complications of IBD manifesting in the earnose-throat (ENT) and influencing disease morbidity. The present article reviews the most important ENT manifestations in IBD patients.

Electrocardiograph abnormalities in patients with active inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract: AIM OF STUDY: To investigate the prevalence of electrocardiograph (ECG) abnormalities in a cohort of patients with active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) followed up in a referral center and to compare them with ECG abnormalities in controls. PATIENTS-METHODS: We retrospectively studied surface ECGs from a random selected cohort of IBD patients with active disease and we compared them with ECGs from age and sex matched control individuals. The IBD cohort consisted in total of 34 patients, 22 males (aged 42.3±11.6 years) and 12 females (aged 48.1±13.4 years). Twenty-seven patients were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 7 with Crohn’s disease (CD). Disease duration was 10.4±6.2 and 7.8± 4.9 years respectively. Control population consisted of 35 age and sex matched individuals (22 healthy and 13 with viral gastroenteritis). Two cardiologists analyzed ECGs throughout a standard protocol. Differential diagnosis of all abnormal ECGs was based on medical history, concomitant medication and co-morbidity. RESULTS: Twelve out of this 34-IBD patient cohort (35.2%) and 13/35 (37.1%) of control cohort were diagnosed with abnormal ECG’s (p=NS). In total 10 UC patients out of 27 (37%) and 2 out of 7 (28.6%) CD patients had evidence of some kind of ECG abnormality. Additionally, seven IBD patients had PR or QRS or QT interval at the upper normal limit. There was no significant difference in the number of ECG abnormalities between patients and controls but we recorded some qualitative differences between them regarding the type of abnormalities. DISCUSSION: In a cohort of IBD patients with active disease we recorded ECG abnormalities commonly found in healthy individuals and in individuals with viral gastroenteritis. Although we were not able to demonstrate significant differences in overall numbers, we showed qualitative differences regarding types of ECG abnormalities between patients and controls.

Natural agents with antifibrotic properties: The hormone relaxin

Abstract: SUMMARY Relaxin (RLX) is an heterodimeric polypeptidic hormone that belongs to the insulin-like superfamily. Three human genes coding for H1, H2 and H3 relaxin have been identi- fied. In women, the H2 gene is expressed in the corpus lu- teum, endometrium, placenta, and breast, while H1 mRNA has been found in the placenta only. In men, H1 and H2 ex- pression has been reported in the prostate gland and sem- inal vesicles. In vitro and in vivo studies of exogenous RLX administration have shown a substantial reduction in col- lagen production and tissue metalloproteinase inhibitor-1 and 2 (TIMP-1, TIMP-2) expression by dermal and lung fi- broblasts and by hepatic stellate cells. The role of RLX in fibrostenotic Crohn's disease is also under investigation. One of the hypotheses in fibrosis suggests that progression of fibrosis results from increased synthesis of extracellular matrix molecules along with elevated expression of TIMP-1 and 2 which inhibit matrix degradation. Consequently, an- tifibrotic therapies must target towards either reducing ma- trix synthesis or/and increasing matrix degradation. These promising data for RLX could be regarded nowadays as a point of interest in trials for every disease that is patho- physiologically linked with fibrotic or fibrostenotic proce- dures due to abnormal collagen accumulation or collagen degradation.