SUMMARYBackground: The role of azathioprine and methotrexate in inducing and maintaining remission in patients with ulcerative colitis is still controversial. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of these two drugs in a series of patients with steroid-dependent or steroid-resistant active ulcerative colitis. Methods: Forty-two patients were treated with a daily dose of azathioprine (2 mg ⁄ kg) and, if intolerant or not responding, with methotrexate (12.5 mg ⁄ week intramuscularly), and their efficacy was established by clinical, endoscopic and histological examinations at 6 months. Patients achieving clinical remission continued with treatment and were followed up. Results: Of the 42 patients on azathioprine, 10 experienced early side-effects requiring withdrawal

Two-week therapies, independently of antibiotic combination, lead to a significant increase of H. pylori eradication rate compared to 1-week therapies, with same compliance and tolerability, even if, taking account of low-eradication rates, one must question whether the triple therapy should still be used.

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SUMMARYBackground: Mesalazine as maintenance therapy in ulcerative colitis is used worldwide and has been proven to be effective. However, the optimal dosage remains to be defined. Aim: To establish whether daily treatment with 2.4 g of oral mesalazine is more effective than 1.2 g in preventing disease relapse. Methods: A total of 156 patients with ulcerative colitis in remission were randomly treated for 1 year with 2.4 (n ¼ 80) or 1.2 (n ¼ 76) g/day of mesalazine. Activity of disease was assessed by periodical clinical, endoscopic and histological examinations.

Ulcerative proctitis patients with more frequent relapses who need a longer duration of topical therapy are at higher risk of extension of the disease, while a more prolonged oral mesalazine treatment period protects against the proximal spread of rectal inflammation.

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Parkinson’s disease has been found to significantly affect health-related quality of life. The gender differences of the health-related quality of life of subjects with Parkinson’s disease have been observed in a number of studies. These differences have been reported in terms of the age at onset, clinical manifestations, and response to therapy. In general, women with Parkinson’s disease showed more positive disease outcomes with regard to emotion processing, non-motor symptoms, and cognitive functions, although women report more Parkinson’s disease-related clinical manifestations. Female gender predicted poor physical functioning and socioemotional health-related quality of life, while male gender predicted the cognitive domain of health-related quality of life. Some studies reported gender differences in the association between health-related quality of life and non-motor symptoms. Depression and fatigue were the main causes of poorer health-related quality of life in women, even in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. The aim of this review was to collect the best available evidence on gender differences in the development of Parkinson’s disease symptoms and health-related quality of life.

SUMMARYBackground: Conflicting data have been reported concerning the relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and coronary heart disease. Aim: To evaluate clotting system activation and plasma levels of tumour necrosis factor-a, a procoagulant cytokine, in patients with H. pylori-positive andnegative gastritis. Methods: Three groups of patients were identified: 38 with H. pylori-positive gastritis, 18 with H. pylorinegative gastritis, and 40 H. pylori-negative controls with normal gastric mucosa. Plasma levels of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2) and tumour necrosis factor-a were assayed. Patients were also controlled after 2 and 6 months following standard H. pylori eradication treatment.