Two consecutive trials of out-patient treatment for mild cases of active ulcerative colitis are described. In the first trial oral prednisone gave significantly better results than a placebo. In the second trial "salazopyrin" gave final results approaching those of prednisone, although over a longer time and with a higher incidence of unpleasant side-effects, but topical hydrocortisone gave disappointing results, probably because the technique of administration was not suitable for ordinary out-patient use.

For both types of ulcer, the estimated risk among non-secretors was similar for blood group 0 and for the other blood groups and the results suggest that the specific risks associated with blood group 0 and with non-secretion multiply one another. It is concluded that the mechanisms by which blood group 0 and non-secretion affect the risk of developing a gastric or duodenal ulcer are related to one another; but that they do not depend on the presence of the blood group substances in the secretions.The proportion of non-secretors among patients with a stomal ulcer (49 %) was higher than among patients with a duodenal ulcer (37 %) and the order of the relationship between non-secretion and the three types of peptic ulcer (stomal, duodenal, and gastric) was the same as that for blood group 0.Other data suggest that there may be a slight increase in the risk of gastric cancer among nonsecretors, but that the occurrence of diabetes mellitus is independent of ABH secretion.Interest in the association between gastrointestinal disease and the ABO blood group substances was enhanced by the discovery that there was also an association between duodenal ulcer and failure to secrete the substances in the mucous secretions

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