Development and validation of a novel criterion of histologic healing in ulcerative colitis defined by inflammatory cell enumeration in lamina propria mucosa: A multicenter retrospective cohort in China.

BACKGROUND: Histological healing is closely associated with improved long-term clinical outcomes and lowered relapses in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Here, we developed a novel diagnostic criterion for assessing histological healing in UC patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in UC patients, whose treatment was iteratively optimized to achieve mucosal healing at Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital of Tongji University from January 2017 to May 2022. We identified an inflammatory cell enumeration index (ICEI) for assessing histological healing based on the proportions of eosinophils, CD177 + neutrophils, and CD40L + T cells in the colonic lamina propria under high power field (HPF), and the outcomes (risks of symptomatic relapses) of achieving histological remission vs . persistent histological inflammation using Kaplan-Meier curves. Intrareader reliability and inter-reader reliability were evaluated by each reader. The relationships to the changes in the Nancy index and the Geboes score were also assessed for responsiveness. The ICEI was further validated in a new cohort of UC patients from other nine university hospitals. RESULTS: We developed an ICEI for clinical diagnosis of histological healing, i.e., Y = 1.701X 1 + 0.758X 2 + 1.347X 3 - 7.745 (X 1 , X 2 , and X 3 represent the proportions of CD177 + neutrophils, eosinophils, and CD40L + T cells, respectively, in the colonic lamina propria under HPF). The receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analysis revealed that Y <-0.391 was the cutoff value for the diagnosis of histological healing and that an area under the curve (AUC) was 0.942 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.905-0.979) with a sensitivity of 92.5% and a specificity of 83.6% ( P  <0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the intrareader reliability was 0.855 (95% CI: 0.781-0.909), and ICEI had good inter-reader reliability of 0.832 (95% CI: 0.748-0.894). During an 18-month follow-up, patients with histological healing had a substantially better outcome compared with those with unachieved histological healing ( P  <0.001) using ICEI. During a 12-month follow-up from other nine hospitals, patients with histological healing also had a lower risk of relapse than patients with unachieved histological healing. CONCLUSIONS: ICEI can be used to predict histological healing and identify patients with a risk of relapse 12 months and 18 months after clinical therapy. Therefore, ICEI provides a promising, simplified approach to monitor histological healing and to predict the prognosis of UC. REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, No. ChiCTR2300077792.

Geographical heterogeneity in the disease characteristics and management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease, the preliminary results of a Chinese database for IBD (CHASE-IBD).

Background: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is rapidly increasing in China, a vast country with significant geographical differences. The socioeconomic status of Eastern China is significantly higher than that of Western China. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the geographical heterogeneity in the characteristics and management of patients with IBD in both Eastern and Western China. Design: This was a multicenter, cross-sectional study. Methods: Patients with IBD with ages ⩾18 years up to 18 January 2023 were included in the analysis from the Chinese database for IBD. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors associated with surgeries among patients with IBD. Results: Among 8305 patients with IBD, the ratio of ulcerative colitis (UC) to Crohn's disease (CD) was 4.13 and 0.33 in Western and Eastern China, respectively. The median age at diagnosis of UC and CD was 40.69 and 28.58 years, respectively. There was a male predominance among patients with UC (54.3%) and CD (68.0%). The two regions exhibited a similar distribution of disease locations in UC. However, Western China had a higher proportion of L2 involvement (30.0% versus 19.1%) and more advanced disease behavior (B2 and B3) (48.8% versus 39.8%) than Eastern China. Patients with IBD in Western China received more 5-aminosalicylic acid and corticosteroids and fewer immunomodulators and biologicals. In terms of surgical risk, Eastern China [versus Western China, odds ratios (OR): 5.36, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 2.96-9.68] was associated with a higher risk of surgery in UC, while Western China (versus Eastern China, OR: 3.39, 95% CI: 2.37-4.86) was associated with a higher risk of surgery in CD. Conclusion: Geographical heterogeneity exists in the disease characteristics and management of IBD in Eastern and Western China. These findings have the potential to guide the formulation of location-specific strategies aimed at enhancing the long-term outcomes of patients with IBD.

Evaluation of health-related quality of life and influencing factors in patients with Crohn disease.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed levels of anxiety and depression in patients with Crohn disease (CD) to identify predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). METHODS: In this case-control study, we enrolled 50 adult patients with CD and 50 matched, healthy controls. All participants completed self-administered questionnaires including the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36), and Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ, patients only). We analyzed the relationship between HRQOL and influencing factors. RESULTS: Mean total scores on the SAS, SDS, and SF-36 were significantly different between patients and controls. IBDQ scores among patients in the active phase of CD were significantly lower than those in remission phase. SF-36 scores were significantly lower in patients with CD compared with healthy controls. SF-36 scores among patients with active CD were significantly lower than scores among those in remission, and SF-36 scores in patients without complications were significantly higher than in those with complications. SF-36 scores in patients with good nutritional status were also significantly higher than scores in malnourished patients with CD. CONCLUSIONS: Depression, anxiety, disease activity, complications, and nutritional status were predictive factors of decreased HRQOL in patients with CD.

Endoscopic diagnosis of gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease.

AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic value of endoscopy in patients with gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease (GI GVHD). METHODS: We identified 8 patients with GI GVHD following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell trans-plantation (HSCT). GVHD was defined histologically as the presence of gland apoptosis, not explained by other inflammatory or infectious etiologies. RESULTS: The symptoms of GI GVHD included anorexia, nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, abdominal pain, GI bleeding, etc. Upper endoscopic appearance varied from subtle mucosal edema, hyperemia, erythema to obvious erosion. Colonoscopic examination showed diffuse edema, hyperemia, patchy erosion, scattered ulcer, sloughing and active bleeding. Histological changes in GI GVHD included apoptosis of crypt epithelial cells, dropout of crypts, and lymphocytic infiltration in epithelium and lamina propria. The involvement of stomach and rectocolon varied from diffuse to focal. CONCLUSION: Endoscopy may play a significant role in early diagnosis of GI GVHD patients following allogeneic HSCT, and histologic examination of gastrointestinal biopsies is needed to confirm the final diagnosis.