Acute spontaneously recovering ulcerating colitis (ARUC). Report of 6 cases

Oral Contraceptive Use and Risk of Ulcerative Colitis Progression: A Nationwide Study

OBJECTIVES

Oral contraceptive (OC) use has been consistently linked to increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease. Nonetheless, a specific role of OC in the natural history of ulcerative colitis (UC) is unknown.

METHODS

We identified 6,104 incident female UC cases aged 16-51 years at diagnosis from the Swedish National Patient Register starting in January of 2003. Information on current OC use was obtained from the Prescribed Drug Register starting in July of 2005. We followed cases through December of 2014 for primary outcome defined as first UC-related surgery, and the secondary outcomes defined by recipient of the first prescription of oral steroids or anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) use. We used Cox proportional hazard modeling with time-varying covariates to estimate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).

RESULTS

Over 31,421 person-years of follow up, we observed 162 cases of UC-related surgery. Compared with nonusers, current and past use of OC were not significantly associated with risk of UC-related surgery (aHR=0.79; 95% CI, 0.52-1.18; and aHR=0.74, 95% CI, 0.46-1.18, respectively). The association did not appear to be modified by type of OC use (progestin-only vs. combination of progestin and estrogen), longer duration of use, or higher number of dispensed prescriptions (All P_trend>0.28). Similarly, longer use or higher cumulative number of OC prescriptions were not associated with increased risk of receiving a steroid prescription (P_trend=0.68 and 0.63, respectively). In exploratory analyses restricted to Stockholm county, current OC use was not associated with increased risk of receiving anti-TNF therapy (aHR=0.83, 95% CI, 0.59-1.18).

CONCLUSIONS

In a large nationwide registry of UC patients, we found no association between OC use and UC progression. Our data offer reassurance regarding the safety of OC assessed by its effect on risk of surgery and steroid or anti-TNF use in women with established UC.

Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease with Oral Contraceptives and Menopausal Hormone Therapy: Current Evidence and Future Directions

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), collectively known as inflammatory bowel diseases, are archetypical inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract with rising incidence worldwide. Although the role of genetic factors in disease development has been highlighted by genome-wide association studies, environmental risk factors likely play a pivotal role in development of CD and UC. Prior observational studies have suggested a link between exogenous hormone use and risk of CD and UC. Specifically, studies have shown an association between oral contraceptive use and risk of CD and menopausal hormone therapy and risk of UC. Although the exact mechanism of these associations is largely unknown, a number of hypotheses have been proposed. First, oral estrogen has been shown to modify intestinal permeability, a critical step in the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease. Second, exogenous hormone use through its effect on endogenous levels of hormones may enhance the development of Th1- and Th2-mediated inflammatory diseases. Lastly, recent data have linked modification in the gut microbiome to endogenous levels of androgens, which are also known to be altered with exogenous hormone use and influence the development of autoimmune diseases. This supports the intriguing hypothesis that the gut microbiome lies at the crossroads of pathways linking exogenous hormone use with innate and adaptive immunity. Future studies should therefore focus on bridging these epidemiologic findings to disease pathogenesis through comprehensive understanding of the complex interaction between exogenous hormone use, sex steroid biomarkers, genetic risk loci, and alterations in the intestinal microbial environment in the etiology of CD and UC.

Inflammatory bowel disease and environmental influences

Some environmental factors have been established firmly as influences on the development of IBD, such as smoking and appendectomy. Other behaviors, such as oral contraceptive use and sugar intake, have been suggested as risk factors, but he data conflict sharply. The importance of other behaviors, such as breast-feeding, is even murkier with sharply divergent data. Some issues studied may not be factors in themselves but rather markers for other unidentified influences. The conflicting evidence in many of these studies may be clarified as specific genes are identified and the interplay between these environmental factors and genetic subtypes is investigated.

Smoking, the oral contraceptive pill, and Crohn's disease

Both cigarette smoking and the oral contraceptive pill have been implicated as aggravating factors in Crohn's disease. Based upon the recent demonstration of multifocal gastrointestinal infarction in Crohn's disease, a possible pathogenic mechanism for this condition, we propose how smoking and the oral contraceptive pill may potentiate a tendency for focal thrombosis and hence exacerbate the activity of Crohn's disease.

Frequency of inflammatory bowel disease in offspring of couples both presenting with inflammatory bowel disease

A private practice was surveyed for prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in husband-wife partners and in their children. Among approximately 2500 patients with IBD in our files, 19 couples were identified. They were subdivided into group A (n = 5) in which both partners had symptoms of IBD before marriage; group B (n = 7) in which only one spouse had IBD before marriage and the other partner experienced symptoms afterwards; and group C (n = 7) in which neither spouse had symptoms before marriage but IBD subsequently developed in both. In group B, the disease developed in the second spouse 2-16 years after marriage (mean, 6.4 years). In group C, IBD developed in the first spouse 0.3-41 years after marriage and in the second spouse 1-14 years after the first spouse (mean, 6.8 years). Thirty-five children have been born to 16 of the couples. Two children died before age 20. Of the surviving 33 children, IBD has already developed in 12 (36%). Among the other 21 unaffected children, 1 had uveitis at age 9 and 10 are still under the age of 21, perhaps too young to have yet developed IBD. The frequency of IBD in children was slightly higher if both parents had already developed IBD at the time of conception (67%) compared with when only 1 parent (50%) or neither parent (50%) had developed IBD when conception occurred. Although these data do not distinguish genetic from environmental factors, they show a higher risk of IBD in children when both parents have this illness.

Chronic inflammatory bowel disease, cigarette smoking, and use of oral contraceptives: findings in a large cohort study of women of childbearing age

Since the start in 1968 of the Oxford Family Planning Association contraceptive study 31 women have developed ulcerative colitis and 18 have developed Crohn's disease, giving incidences of 0.15 and 0.09/1000 woman years respectively. The incidence of ulcerative colitis in women who were non-smokers on entry to the study was 0.17/1000 woman years and the incidence in smokers was 0.11/1000 woman years. The findings for Crohn's disease were entirely different, the corresponding incidences being 0.05 and 0.17/1000 woman years respectively. Both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease were more common among women currently using oral contraceptives than among those not doing so. Incidences per 1000 woman years for ulcerative colitis were 0.26 in users and 0.11 in non-users; for Crohn's disease the incidences were 0.13 and 0.07 respectively. Though the association between the use of oral contraceptives and chronic inflammatory bowel disease cannot be regarded as established, the effects of smoking have been shown consistently in many studies. This observation provides an important clue to the aetiology of chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

Forms of colitis--a review of recent developments

Recent advances in the accessibility of the bowel and in techniques for the study of colonic pathology have resulted in descriptions of several forms of colitis which were previously unrecognized and in elucidation of the etiology of previously described but poorly understood entities. Present knowledge of antibiotic-associated colitis, colitis indeterminate, acute self-limited colitis, collagenous colitis and the colitis of food allergy is reviewed.

Colonic Crohn's disease and use of oral contraception

The prevalence of use of oral contraception before the onset of disease was established in 100 consecutive women attending follow up clinics for inflammatory bowel disease. A significant excess of women with Crohn's disease confined to the colon had taken oral contraceptives in the year before developing symptoms (10/16 (63%] compared with women with small-intestinal Crohn's disease (12/49 (24%); p less than 0.02) and women with ulcerative colitis (3/35 (9%); p less than 0.0005). When the patient groups were matched for age and year of onset of disease usage of oral contraception before the onset of disease was still more common among women with isolated colonic Crohn's disease (9/12, 75%) than among those with ulcerative colitis (2/12 (17%); p less than 0.02) and was also more common than would be expected from reported figures for oral contraception in England and Wales (31.4% of women aged under 41; p less than 0.005). A survey of current patient records showed that isolated colonic disease was at least twice as common among women with Crohn's disease (63/218, 29%) compared with men (25/181, 14%; p less than 0.001). These data support the suggestion made previously that oral contraceptives may predispose to a colitis that resembles colonic Crohn's disease.

Estrogen- and progesterone-associated colitis: a disorder with clinical and endoscopic features mimicking Crohn's colitis

Five women presented with episodes of abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Their colonic endoscopic features included (1) rectal sparing, (2) segmental involvement of the colon, and (3) discrete ulcers with normal adjacent mucosa that mimicked Crohn's colitis. All patients were taking estrogen or progesterone or both, and their symptoms and endoscopic findings resolved with cessation of therapy.

Fulminant onset of Crohn's disease of the colon (CDC). An observation of six cases

Six female patients are described with a fulminant onset of Crohn's's disease involving the whole of the colon. The initial picture resembled that of an acute infectious diarrhea, but rapid clinical deterioration with pronounced weight loss, major anal complications, toxic megacolon, and erythema nodosum necessitated reappraisal of the diagnosis. Extensive endoscopy and multiple biopsies confirmed the diagnosis of pancolitis in all patients. Only one patient needed resection. Recognition of such fulminant onset as a distinct clinical modality in Crohn disease of the colon and starting treatment immediately upon diagnosis is probably important in preventing the development of a critical clinical situation.