In 2020, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began to spread worldwide and remains an ongoing medical challenge. This case series reports on the clinical features and characteristics of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and confirmed COVID-19 infection. From February 2020 to March 2021, nine patients with IBD had confirmed COVID-19 across four hospitals in Korea. The median age at COVID-19 diagnosis was 42 years. Six patients were male, and seven patients had ulcerative colitis (UC). No patients required oxygen therapy, intensive care unit hospitalizations, or died. The most common symptom was fever, and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms developed as diarrhea in five patients with UC. Oral steroids were used to combat UC aggravation in two patients. In this case series of nine IBD patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Korea, the clinical presentation was predominately a mild respiratory tract infection. Most patients with UC developed new GI symptoms including diarrhea.
Background: Positive fecal immunochemical test (FIT) results have been recently suggested as a risk factor for systemic inflammation. Diabetes induces inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract via several ways. We investigated the association between FIT results and the incidence of diabetes.Methods: A total of 7,946,393 individuals aged ≥50 years from the National Cancer Screening Program database who underwent FIT for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening from 2009 to 2012 were enrolled. The primary outcome was newly diagnosed diabetes based on the International Classification of Disease 10th revision codes and administration of anti-diabetic medication during the follow-up period.Results: During a mean follow-up of 6.5 years, the incidence rates of diabetes were 11.97, 13.60, 14.53, and 16.82 per 1,000 personyears in the FIT negative, one-positive, two-positive, and three-positive groups, respectively. The hazard ratios (HRs) for the incidence of diabetes were 1.14 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12 to 1.16; HR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.27; and HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.28 to 1.55) in the one-positive, two-positive, and three-positive FIT groups compared with the FIT negative group, respectively. The effect was consistent in individuals with normal fasting blood glucose (adjusted HR 1.55 vs. 1.14, P for interaction <0.001).Conclusion: Positive FIT results were associated with a significantly higher risk of diabetes, suggesting that the FIT can play a role not only as a CRC screening tool, but also as a surrogate marker of systemic inflammation; thus, increasing the diabetes risk.
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