Why smokers rarely suffer from ulcerative colitis

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 00:15:38 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Doctors have long known that smokers rarely suffer from a common form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) called ulcerative colitis, but they didn't know why. A new study in the December 19 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine might help explain this apparent resistance. Scott Plevy and his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh now show that carbon monoxide (CO), a component of cigarette smoke, helps shut down the intestinal inflammation that causes ulcerative colitis.

CO is best known as a toxic air pollutant, but small amounts of this gas are also produced in the human body as a normal byproduct of metabolism, suggesting that the effects of CO must not be all bad. High dose CO gas is lethal, because it robs the body of life-sustaining oxygen. It is this asphyxiant property of CO that has earned it a bad reputation. But recent scientific studies have shown that CO -- at least at low concentrations -- has a redeeming quality: it acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.

It is this quality, according to Plevy and colleagues, that allowed CO to ease the symptoms of IBD in mice. The group traced the action of inhaled CO to a protein that is produced by immune cells called interleukin (IL)-12. IL-12 is normally produced during infection and helps activate the immune cells that fight off the invading pathogens. But chronic production of IL-12 in the gut also drives the inflammation that causes ulcerative colitis. Inhaled CO inhibited the production of IL-12, short-circuiting the disease-causing inflammation.

The researchers are now trying to unravel the specific cellular components that are required for CO to inhibit IL-12. In the meantime, Plevy thinks that inhaled CO might provide some relief for patients with ulcerative colitis. But non-smokers with IBD shouldn't necessarily break out the Marlboros, as cigarette smoking is a risk factor not only for heart disease and cancer but also for Crohn's disease, another form of IBD.

Probiotic bacteria mixture VSL#3 ease ulcerative colitis pain

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 01:04:38 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A mixture of bacteria developed in part by University of Alberta researchers has been proven highly effective in treating people suffering from ulcerative colitis.

The findings, published in the July, 2005 issue of American Journal of Gastroenterology showed that the majority of patients taking a probiotic mixture of 8 bacteria (VSL#3) for 6 weeks improved their ulcerative colitis. Probiotics are preparations of living microbial cells that, when ingested, are thought to positively influence the composition of microbes in the gut and improve the health of the intestine.

While "bad" bacteria have been flagged as potential culprits in the cause of inflammatory diseases of the bowel, in this case, the ingestion of supplemental "good" bacteria (probiotics) to the intestine proved beneficial in treating ulcerative colitis, said Dr. Richard Fedorak, a professor of gastroenterology at the University of Alberta. The joint study included researchers from the University of Bologna in Italy and the University of North Carolina.

In this open label clinical trial, 86 per cent of those treated with probiotic bacteria mixture VSL#3 experienced relief of their mild to moderate ulcerative colitis. The mixture of eight lactic acid bacterial species is believed to be effective by mechanisms that include (1) reducing the number of "bad" bacteria, (2) reducing the amount of inflammation (3) increasing the mucus layer in the gut, and (4) increasing the amount of anti-inflammatory molecules in the intestine.

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease that affects the large intestine (colon) and causes acute bloody diarrhea, sever stomach pain, urgency, anemia and fatigue. In its most severe form, ulcerative colitis that does not respond to medical treatment will require surgical removal of the colon.

The VSL#3 was administered over a six-week period to 30 patients who ranged in age from 18 to 65. Remission of the colitis was achieved in 63 per cent of the patients, while another 23 per cent responded with improvement in their symptoms and with healing of the colon's lining. There were no adverse effects to the medication.

The VSL#3 can be considered an important potential treatment for those patients who don't respond to conventional therapy such as mesalamine or 5ASA, Dr. Fedorak said.

RxPG News : Ulcerative Colitis

Why smokers rarely suffer from ulcerative colitis

Probiotic bacteria mixture VSL#3 ease ulcerative colitis pain