The phenotype and course of inflammatory bowel disease in UK patients of Bangladeshi descent.

BACKGROUND: We have tested the hypotheses that compared with local white Caucasians, UK-resident patients of Bangladeshi descent develop inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) at a younger age; more often have Crohn's disease than ulcerative colitis (UC); and have a more aggressive disease course. AIM: To test the hypotheses that compared to white Caucasian patients of English, Scottish or Welsh descent, patients of Bangladeshi descent develop IBD at a younger age; more often have Crohn's disease; and have a more aggressive disease course by screening case-records of these patients. METHODS: We screened the case-records of 132 Bangladeshi and 623 white Caucasian consecutive out-patients. We then matched each Bangladeshi to a patient of white Caucasian descent for age at diagnosis and disease duration. Data on migration status, phenotype, disease course, treatments and extra-intestinal manifestations and complications were obtained. RESULTS: No differences were seen in the adjusted age at diagnosis of IBD between Bangladeshi and white Caucasian patients. More Bangladeshis than white Caucasian patients (P < 0.01) were diagnosed with Crohn's disease than UC. Crohn's phenotype at diagnosis was similar in both groups. However, multivariate Cox logistic regression analyses showed that Bangladeshis developed perianal complications (HR [95% confidence interval CI] 8.6 [1.4, 53.1], P = 0.02), and received anti-TNFs (HR [95% CI] 3.0 [1.2, 7.7], P = 0.02) earlier and underwent surgery later (HR [95% CI] 0.4 [0.2, 0.9], P = 0.03) than white Caucasians. More Bangladeshis with UC had extensive disease (24/40 [60%]) than white Caucasians (16/49 [33%], P = 0.02). Overall, more Bangladeshis were anaemic and vitamin D deficient. CONCLUSIONS: Bangladeshi patients with IBD more frequently have Crohn's than UC. Bangladeshis with Crohn's more frequently develop perianal disease, have earlier medication escalation and undergo surgery later than white Caucasians. Bangladeshis have more extensive UC than white Caucasians. The relative contributions of genotype and environmental factors, including vitamin D, to these phenotypic differences require additional study.

Factors associated with nonadherence to thiopurines in adolescent and adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

OBJECTIVES: We hypothesised that nonadherence to thiopurines is more common in adolescents than in adults with inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS: We sought factors associated with thiopurine nonadherence defined by thiopurine metabolite levels. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression confirmed that adolescents (odds ratio [OR] 4.6 [95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9-11.5]; P < 0.01) compared with adults, patients with Crohn disease (OR 3.3 [CI 1.1-10.5] P = 0.04) compared with ulcerative colitis, and patients living in more socially deprived areas (OR 1.03 [CI 1.0-1.1] P = 0.02) were more likely to be nonadherent to thiopurines. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents are more frequently nonadherent than adults: prospective studies are required to determine the reasons for nonadherence in adolescents.

Diversion colitis: a trigger for ulcerative colitis in the in-stream colon?

The aetiology of ulcerative colitis is unknown. Two patients without pre-existing inflammatory bowel disease in whom end colostomy for faecal incontinence was complicated by diversion colitis in the defunctioned rectosigmoid colon, are described. In both instances, colitis with the clinical, colonoscopic, and microscopic features of ulcerative colitis developed about a year later in the previously normal in-stream colon proximal to the colostomy. These cases suggest that diversion colitis may be a risk factor for ulcerative colitis in predisposed individuals and that ulcerative colitis can be triggered by anatomically discontinuous inflammation elsewhere in the large intestine.