[Adalimumab as induction therapy for Crohn's disease - one center study]. / Adalimumab w indukcji remisji w chorobie Lesniowskiego- Crohna ­ studium jednoosrodkowe.

Adalimumab is a subcutaneously administered recombinant fully human monoclonal antibody targeting tumor necrosis factor alpha. It has been approved for use in Poland to treat patients with Crohn's disease under the program of Polish National Health Found since 2010. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of adalimumab monotherapy for inducing clinical remission in patients with active Crohn's disease . The primary outcome assessment was the reduction in score to 150 or below on the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) at 12 weeks and the secondary one was the reduction in ΔCDAI of at least 100 points. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2011 to December 2015 we treated 68 patients with active Crohn's disease (mean CDAI score 359). All the patients came from region of Silesia, an area with the same environment conditions. The patients were given adalimumab (Humira, AbbVie) subcutaneously at a dose of 160 mg at week 0, 80 mg at week 4 and 40 mg every two weeks thereafter. RESULTS: Twenty eight patients (41%) had a clinical remission at week 12 (CDAI ≤150) and 33 patients (49%) had a ΔCDAI response. During the 12-week of induction therapy infection with Clostridium difficile occurred in 4 patients and one patient died of a severe CMV infection. CONCLUSIONS: Adalimumab is effective as induction therapy for patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease, however in individual cases serious infections including CMV infection can occur. A potential predictive factors for response can be female gender, non-smoking status and high CRP level at baseline.

[Treatment of microscopic colitis - what's new?] / Leczenie mikroskopowego zapalenia jelita grubego ­ co nowego?

Microscopic colitis (MC) is frequent, although still uncommonly diagnosed, cause of chronic diarrhea. The etiopathology of MC is unknown but this disease has strong influence on patient's quality of life (measured by health-related quality of life - HRQoL). MC is characterized by microscopic abnormalities in large bowel's mucosa whereas endoscopic and radiological examination findings are normal. The treatment of MC is an essential social and financial problem due to its frequency in society. Thanks to the results of some controlled research which judged efficiency of some medicines as well as advisory groups recommendations, the MC therapy is nowadays going from empiric to accordance with evidence based medicine.

[Hygienic hypothesis in immunopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease]. / Koncepcja hipotezy higienicznej w immunopatogenezie nieswoistych chorób zapalnych jelit.

Over three last decades, it has been noticed that morbidity of immunology-dependent illnesses, like asthma, inflammatory bowel disease or atopic dermatitis, apparently increased. That is the reason to focus on searching and exploring new ideas which could explain etiopathology of those diseases. In etiopathology the role of environmental factors is particularly emphasized. Research indicated the inverse relationship between the frequency of infectious and/ or parasites and autoimmune diseases. It was a leading subject of many studies what allowed to create a hypothesis which explains the phenomenon. The most original and innovative idea, named hygenic hypothesis, was proposed in the late 80s of the last century. Avoiding or limiting the contact with common bacteria and parasites in well-and very well-developed countries probably caused depletion of immune memory which resulted in the hypersensitive response after exposure to general factors. Nowadays, autoimmunological diseases make really serious problem for medical care in the United States of America and Western European countries, ranking just behind cardiovascular diseases, cancer and metabolic sicknesses.

Comparison of chosen activation markers of human monocytes/macrophages isolated from the peripheral blood of young and elderly volunteers.

BACKGROUND: The immune system of humans is strongly affected by the processes of aging and what is called immunosenescence and inflammaging. Aging processes are also associated with altered macrophage functions and their ability to undergo differential activation. As a result, the risk of macrophage-related disorders like atherosclerosis is increased in the elderly. METHODS: Human monocyte-derived macrophages obtained from young and elderly healthy volunteers were stimulated with either lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or interleukin-4 (IL-4), and the expression of classical and alternative activation markers was assessed. The concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and IL-1ß were measured in addition to the expression of genes and relevant proteins of inducible nitric oxide synthase, IL-1ß, arginase-1 and suppressor of cytokine signaling-1. RESULTS: We showed that the macrophages isolated from the young generally demonstrated higher responsiveness to introduced stimuli and balanced the classical activation state. The cells from the elderly showed stronger generation of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which contribute to stress and damage reactions. CONCLUSIONS: The changes observed in the macrophages isolated from the elderly indicate that these cells could contribute to the development of metabolic disorders like atherosclerosis and diabetes. The cells from the young volunteers are less likely to present such properties.

[Contemporary dermatological methods of treating hirsutism]. / Wspólczesne dermatologiczne metody leczenia hirsutyzmu.

Hirsutism is a symptom of excessive androgen secretion in women, which in recent years is becoming more common. It is a problem of physical, mental and social background and patients always require application of an appropriate therapy. In addition to medical therapy, there are also other forms of treatment of hirsutism. These include the dermatological treatment using mechanical methods of removing unwanted hair. The aim of this work is to systematize the existing knowledge about treatment of hirsutism and suggest different patterns of treatment. Dermatological treatment is a very important complement to drug therapy. Its use allows for more rapid achievement of an external effect, and thus to improve the patients compliance. Due to the variety of symptoms in patients population therapy should be adapted to the needs of every patient.

Incretin-based therapies in the treatment of type 2 diabetes--more than meets the eye?

A lot of contradictory data regarding the serious side effects of incretin-based therapies are currently available, with more being prepared or published every month. Considering the widespread use of these drugs it should be considered a priority to establish both short- and long-term risks connected with incretin treatment. We performed an extensive literature search of the PubMed database looking for articles dealing with connections between incretin-based therapies and pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer and other neoplasms. Data obtained indicate that GLP-1 agonists and DPPIV inhibitors could increase the risk of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, possibly due to their capacity to increase ductal cell turnover, which has previously been found to be up-regulated in patients with obesity and T2DM. GLP-1 analogues exenatide and liraglutide seem to be connected with medullary thyroid carcinoma in rat models and, surprisingly, GLP-1 receptors have been found in papillary thyroid carcinoma, currently the most common neoplasm of the thyroid gland in humans. Changes in expression of DPPIV have been described in ovarian carcinoma, melanoma, endometrial adenocarcinoma, prostate cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and in certain haematological malignancies. In most cases loss of DPPIV activity is connected with a higher grading scale, more aggressive tumour behaviour and higher metastatic potential. In conclusion animal and human studies indicate that there could be a connection between incretin-based therapies and pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer and other neoplasms. Therefore whenever such therapy is started it would be wise to proceed with caution, especially if personal history of neoplasms is present.

[Contemporary pharmacological methods of treating hirsutism]. / Najnowsze farmakologiczne metody leczenia hirsutyzmu.

Hirsutism is a symptom of excessive androgen secretion in women, which in recent years is becoming more common. It is a problem of physical, mental and social background and patients always require application of an appropriate therapy Today's medicine offers a wide variety of treatments for the disease, each of which has a different efficiency. This article describes the pharmacological treatment of hirsutism using, among others: antiandrogenic drugs, corticosteroids and oral contraceptives. We performed an extensive literature looking for articles dealing with various forms of hirsutism treatment, most important items were selected and compiled in this work. Modem medicine distinguishes many forms of hirsutism treatment. A very important form of treatment for this condition is the use of pharmacological agents. Their diversity allows optimal adjustment of therapy to the requirements and needs of the patient. Drug therapy is effective, however, in most cases also requires a dermatological treatment.