Urinary Stones and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke: the Japan Public Health Center-Based Prospective Study

Aim: Evidence is lacking about whether urinary stones are associated with the subsequent risk of cardiovascular diseases. Herein, we investigated the association between history of urinary stones and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke among middle-aged Japanese.Methods: This cohort study included 89,037 Japanese men and women (45–74 years) registered in the Japan Public Health Center-based prospective study. Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident CHD and stroke among Japanese adults with a self-reported history of urinary stones compared with those without it. The following covariates were included in the regression models: age, sex, area, body mass index, and histories of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, smoking habit, alcohol intake, and physical activity.Results: In total, 1.31% of Japanese adults reported a positive history of urinary stones. Throughout a median follow-up period of 12 years, 1.16% of Japanese adults developed CHD, and 4.96% developed stroke. No associations were detected between history of urinary stones and the risk of CHD (HR 1.04; 95% CI: 0.64–1.67), stroke (HR 0.92; 95% CI: 0.71–1.20), or total CVD (HR 0.95; 95% CI: 0.75–1.19). Younger urinary stone formers (45–59 years) tended to have a higher, though statistically insignificant, risk of CHD than older urinary stone formers (60–74 years): [(HR 1.15; 95% CI: 0.61–2.15) versus (HR 0.83; 95% CI: 0.40–1.76)], respectively.Conclusion: The history of urinary stones was shown to be not associated with the risk of CVD among Japanese adults.     

依达拉奉在心血管疾病应用中的研究进展

依达拉奉是一种作用机制明确的新型自由基清除剂,目前主要用于脑梗死的治疗。近年来,临床和动物实验已证实依达拉奉可以作用于多个器官,其中之一是对心肌有较好的保护作用,并有不同作用机制参与。本文对依达拉奉在心血管疾病应用中的研究进展进行综述。     

Idiopathic acute pancreatitis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A multicenter cohort study

BackgroundIdiopathic acute pancreatitis (IAP) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is not well characterized. Our purpose was to better understand this condition and its natural history.MethodsRetrospective cohort study conducted at nine Spanish IBD referral centers. Patients with IBD and a first episode of acute pancreatitis (AP) between 1998 and 2018 were included. Patients with a previous episode of AP or a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis were excluded. IAP and non-IAP were compared by multivariate logistic regression and survival analysis.ResultsWe identified 185 patients with IBD (68.7% Crohn’s disease) and a first episode of AP. Thirty-eight of those 185 (20.6%) fulfilled criteria for IAP. There were no severe cases of IAP. On multivariate analysis, AP before IBD diagnosis (21.1% vs. 3.4%, p = 0.04) and ulcerative colitis (52.6% vs. 23.1%, p = 0.002) were significantly more common in IAP. Further work-up was performed in 16/38 (42%) IAP patients, and a cause was identified in 6/16 (37.5%). Median time from AP to the end of follow-up was 6.3 years (3.1–10). Five-year risk of AP recurrence was significantly higher in IAP group (28% vs. 5.1%, log-rank p = 0.001), with a median time to first recurrence of 4.4 months (2.9–12.2).ConclusionsIAP represents the second cause of AP in patients with IBD. It is more frequent in ulcerative colitis, and presents a high risk of recurrence. Additional imaging work-up after a first episode of IAP in IBD patients is highly advisable, as it identifies a cause in more than one-third of cases.     

单中心老年心血管病危险因素控制现状分析

目的了解老年患者心血管病危险因素控制现状。方法选择我院老年内科住院治疗的疑诊冠心病的老年患者256例,测定血糖、血脂水平,进行24h动态血压监测,根据相关指南推荐的血压、血糖及血脂达标值判断达标情况。根据冠状动脉造影结果将入选者分为冠心病组208例与非冠心病组48例,比较2组上述危险因素控制情况。结果 256例患者中,209例(81.6%)合并高血压,24h、昼间及夜间平均血压达标率分别为75.1%、82.8%和59.3%;99例(38.7%)合并糖尿病,血糖达标率70.7%;154例(60.2%)合并血脂异常,LDL-C达标率41.4%。冠心病组与非冠心病组血压、血糖达标率比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),冠心病组LDL-C达标率低于非冠心病组,差异有统计学意义(38.5%vs 54.2%,P<0.05)。结论老年心血管病高危患者中,血压、血糖达标率高,LDL-C达标率较低,尤其心血管病极高危的冠心病患者LDL-C达标率更低,应重视老年患者心血管病风险评估,并进一步加强对血脂的干预力度。     

Surgical treatment of intestinal stricture in inflammatory bowel disease

Fibroblast infiltration and collagen deposition result in structural changes in the bowel wall, and lead to strictures in intestinal inflammatory disease. While strictures can also occur in other contexts, such as malignancy, this review focuses on the surgical treatment of stricture secondary to inflammatory bowel disease. Distinguishing between predominantly inflammation vs established fibrosis as the cause of a stricture can be challenging. While inflammatory strictures may be responsive to medication, predominantly fibrotic strictures usually need surgical intervention. Both endoluminal and extraluminal approaches are described in this review. Endoscopic dilatation of strictures is suitable for short‐segment isolated small bowel strictures. Other options are to divide the stricture surgically but preserve the length, performing a strictureplasty or resecting the strictured segment. The mesentery is increasingly recognized as playing a role in stricture recurrence. In a relapsing‐remitting disease such as Crohn's disease, the preservation of intestinal length is essential and balance is needed between this and a complete resection to reduce the risk of recurrence. Pre‐ and postoperative involvement of the multidisciplinary team is essential to improve outcomes in this challenging clinical scenario.     

Role of non‐inflammatory factors in intestinal fibrosis

Intestinal fibrosis is a common complication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), resulting in strictures and ultimately obstruction, which is a significant clinical problem. Fibrosis is mainly triggered by local chronic inflammation and occurs when excessive extracellular matrix deposition is caused by activated mesenchymal cells. Despite the advance of anti‐inflammatory therapies in IBD, the incidence and preventive strategies of intestinal fibrosis and strictures in IBD have not significantly changed over time. This shows that inflammation is necessary for fibrosis, but it does not necessarily affect the fibrotic progression. This review summarizes current knowledge about the non‐inflammatory mechanisms implicated in the gut fibrotic process of IBD, which may pave the way for new mechanisms and anti‐fibrotic therapies.     

Vaccines against gastroenteritis,current progress and challenges

ABSTRACT

Enteric viral and bacterial infections continue to be a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in young children in low-income and middle-income countries, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Vaccines are considered an effective and practical preventive approach against the predominantly fecal-to-oral transmitted gastroenteritis particularly in the resource-limited countries or regions where implementation of sanitation systems and supply of safe drinking water are not quickly achievable. While vaccines are available for a few enteric pathogens including rotavirus and cholera, there are no vaccines licensed for many other enteric viral and bacterial pathogens. Challenges in enteric vaccine development include immunological heterogeneity among pathogen strains or isolates, a lack of animal challenge models to evaluate vaccine candidacy, undefined host immune correlates to protection, and a low protective efficacy among young children in endemic regions. In this article, we briefly updated the progress and challenges in vaccines and vaccine development for the leading enteric viral and bacterial pathogens including rotavirus, human calicivirus, Shigella, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), cholera, nontyphoidal Salmonella, and Campylobacter, and introduced a novel epitope- and structure-based vaccinology platform known as MEFA (multiepitope fusion antigen) and the application of MEFA for developing broadly protective multivalent vaccines against heterogenous pathogens.