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Biomedical subjects

J Piris

Publications and source records attributed to J Piris.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Comparison of disodium cromoglycate and sulphasalazine as maintenance therapy for ulcerative colitis.

In a trial lasting six months disodium cromoglycate (800 mg daily), sulphasalazine (2 g daily), and these two agents in combination were compared in 120 patients as maintenance treatment for ulcerative colitis. Relapse was defined as recurrence of colitic symptoms accompanied by sigmoidoscopic evidence of inflammation. The patients receiving disodium cromoglycate had a much higher relapse-rate than those taking sulphasalazine and the results with the two agents combined were little different from those with sulphasalazine alone. Disodium cromoglycate in the dose employed is greatly inferior to sulphasalazine as maintenance treatment for the prevention of relapse in ulcerative colitis.

Administration, Oral

Small bowel strictures after blunt abdominal trauma.

Two patients with strictures of the small intestine after blunt abdominal trauma are reported. In the first there were multiple severe injuries and the ileal stricture due to a mesenteric tear was not diagnosed until 6 weeks later. In the second an apparently minor injury was responsible for direct damage to the wall of the jejunum and a subsequent stricture.

Adult

Campylobacter colitis.

A patient is described in whom a campylobacter enteritis closely resembled ulcerative colitis on clinical, sigmoidoscopic, and histological grounds. Selective stool culture techniques may be necessary to differentiate campylobacter colitis from ulcerative colitis proper.

Adult

Gastin cells and fasting gastrin levels in duodenal ulcer patients: a quantitative study based on multiple biopsy specimens.

The number of gastrin-producing cells in biopsy specimens from the gastric and duodenal mucosae in 19 duodenal ulcer patients was quantitated using a morphometric method. The level of immunoreactive gastrin in a sample of fasting serum obtained at the time of the biopsy was measured by radioimmunoassay. The results show no significant difference when compared with those from a group of normal control volunteers. Moreover, there was no correlation between the numbers of gastrin-producing cells and the fasting serum gastrin level in either controls or duodenal ulcer patients.

Adolescent

Tissue eosinophils in ulcerative colitis.

A morphometric method has been used to quantitate eosinophils in the rectal lamina propria. The results from examination of paired biopsy specimens indicate that eosinophil distribution is uniform in the rectum. The number of eosinophils in specimens from patients with long-standing ulcerative colitis is significantly greater than that found in control subjects and increases with increasing clinical activity of the disease. In contrast, when biopsies are obtained from patients in a severe first attack of ulcerative colitis, eosinophil counts are not higher than in controls. The possible significance of these findings is discussed.

Cell Count

Is bird fancier's lung associated with coeliac disease?

Precipitin responses to different avian serum antigens occur in bird fancier's lung (BFL) and coeliac disease. Failure to distinguish between them could encourage an erroneous diagnosis of BFL in patients with coeliac disease, and the recent suggestion that these two disorders are strongly associated may be questioned, partly for this reason. In the present study small bowel biopsy specimens were obtained from 12 of a series of 14 patients proved to have BFL by inhalation provocation tests. None was suggestive of coeliac disease. Of a further 61 patients with biopsy-proved coeliac disease, seven were found to be exposed currently and 33 formerly to birds. As a result of clinical evaluation, BFL was considered a possible cause of undue breathlessness reported by three of the current bird fanciers only, and all underwent inhalation provocation tests. One alone gave positive results. We conclude that if a real association does exist between these two disorders, its clinical importance has been greatly exaggerated.

Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic

The role of various cereals in coeliac disease.

It is well established that the consumption of wheat gluten will produce the characteristic mucosal lesion of coeliac disease in subjects who are predisposed to it. The role of other cereals in the pathogenesis of this disease is less certain. In the present study, four different cereals (rye, barley, maize and rice) have been tested by feeding them to volunteer coeliac subjects who had shown good mucosal recovery on a gluten free diet and assessing the effect by serial jejunal biopsy. The biopsy specimens obtained before and after challenge were compared in terms of histology and disaccharidase activity. The results indicate that rye and barley are harmful but that maize and rice are harmless.

Adolescent

An experiment to determine the active therapeutic moiety of sulphasalazine.

Sulphasalazine (S.A.S.P.) is of proven value in the treatment of ulcerative colitis, but its mode of action is unknown. When it is taken by mouth, nearly all the dose reaches the colon intact, where it is split by bacteria into sulphapyridine (S.P.) and 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-A.S.A.). An experiment was devised to determine whether the therapeutic property of S.A.S.P. is a function of the parent molecule or of these two principal metabolites. Retention enemas of S.A.S.P., S.P., and 5-A.S.A. were administered to volunteer patients with sigmoidoscopic evidence of active ulcerative colitis. The experiment was conducted as a blind controlled therapeutic trial, each patient having one of the test enemas daily for two weeks. Pronounced histological improvement was observed in approximately 30% of the patients receiving S.A.S.P. or 5-A.S.A., and in only 5% of those receiving S.P. It is concluded that the active therapeutic moiety of S.A.S.P. IS 5-A.S.A. and that the S.P. functions as a carrier ensuring that the 5-A.S.A. is liberated within the colon.

Administration, Topical