No abstract

We observed a trend toward improvement of pulmonary disease during the second year, and a significant improvement in weight, height, and BMI z-scores. Compliance, diabetes, and young age prior to tube insertion did not predict success of nutritional rehabilitation.

Probiotics reduce pulmonary exacerbations rate in patients with CF. Probiotics may have a preventive potential for pulmonary deterioration in CF patients.

No abstract

Our long term cohort supports the current evidence on the effectiveness and safety of anti-TNFα treatment in children with IBD. Response to treatment was interestingly associated with lower weight and BMI.

This study tested the influence of pretreatment bacterial density on the eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori with triple therapy. One hundred and thirty two patients with endoscopically confirmed H pylori positive, duodenal ulcer or antral gastritis were treated with triple therapy (colloidal bismuth/metronidazole/amoxicillin) for two weeks. Pretreatment urease activity was assessed by the "4C-urea breath test (UBT) in all patients. The mean (SD) pretreatment UBT concentration was similar in patients with duodenal ulcers (318.4 (175.0)) and patients with antral gastritis (288.9 (165.5)). Rauws et al have shown that one of the advantages of the urea breath test in the diagnosis of H pylori infection is that it also gives a quantitative assessment of the bacterial density in the stomach and correlates well with the histological findings.'1 This correlation has been validated recently by several independent studies. 12-14The purpose of this study was to evaluate the eradication rate of triple therapy in our patient population, and to examine the effect of the pretreatment bacterial density assessed by the 14C-urea breath test (UBT), on the eradication rate with this regimen. MethodsThe study included patients referred to our gastroenterology service for upper gastrointestinal symptoms, who were found to have endoscopically verified duodenal ulcers or chronic antral gastritis. During endoscopy prepyloric antral biopsy specimens were taken for histological examination and for rapid urease testing. In all patients 14C-UBT was performed before starting treatment for H pylori eradication. Patients were treated with the regimen: colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS, De-Nol) 120 mg four times daily, amoxicillin 500 mg thrice daily, and metronidazole 250 mg twice daily for 14 days. All the patients underwent a 14C-UBT four weeks after completion of the treatment for evaluation of H pylori eradication.

Low vitamin B-6 status, based on plasma concentrations of pyridoxal-5-phosphate (PLP), has been identified in inflammatory diseases, including cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and diabetes. Our objective was to examine the association between plasma PLP and multiple markers of inflammation in a community-based cohort [n = 2229 participants (55% women, mean age 61 ± 9 y)]. We created an overall inflammation score (IS) as the sum of standardized values of 13 individual inflammatory markers. Multivariable-adjusted regression analysis was used to assess the associations between the IS and plasma PLP. Geometric mean plasma PLP concentrations were lower in the highest tertile category of IS relative to the lowest (61 vs. 80 nmol/L; P-trend < 0.0001). Similarly, the prevalence of PLP insufficiency was significantly higher for participants in the highest compared with the lowest tertiles for IS categories. These relationships persisted after accounting for vitamin B-6 intake. Also, there were significant inverse relationships between plasma PLP and 4 IS based on functionally related markers, including acute phase reactants, cytokines, adhesion molecules, and oxidative stress. In addition, secondary analyses revealed that many of the individual inflammatory markers were inversely associated with plasma PLP after adjusting for plasma C-reactive protein concentration. This study, in combination with past findings, further supports our hypothesis that inflammation is associated with a functional deficiency of vitamin B-6. We discuss 2 possible roles for PLP in the inflammatory process, including tryptophan metabolism and serine hydroxymethyltransferase activity.

EHPVO is a rare disorder. The etiological factors are still mostly unknown, and the endoscopic and surgical treatment options ensure a good long-term prognosis.