Guillain-Barrésyndrome following hepatitis E

Guillain-Barrésyndrome(GBS)is often triggered by a preceding bacterial or viral infection.Occasionally,it has been observed in association with acute hepatitis A,B and C,and three cases have been previously described in India in which GBS was associated with acute hepatitis E.A molecular mimicry mechanism is supposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of GBS triggered by infectious agents,although the nature of the shared epitopes has not been characterized in most instances,including that in the case of hepatotropic viruses.We report a case of GBS following acute hepatitis E in a European individual.The presence of antiganglioside GM2 antibodies in this patient suggested molecular mimicry involving ganglioside GM2 in the pathogenesis of GBS associated with hepatitis E.

Impact of medical therapies on inflammatory bowel disease complication rate

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are progressive diseases associated with a high risk of complications over time including strictures,fistulae,perianal complications,surgery,and colorectal cancer.Changing the natural history and avoiding evolution to a disabling disease should be the main goal of treatment.In recent studies,mucosal healing has been associated with longer-term remission and fewer complications.Conventional therapies with immunosuppressive drugs are able to induce mucosal healing in a minority of cases but their impact on disease progression appears modest.Higher rates of mucosal healing can be achieved with anti-tumor necrosis factor therapies that reduce the risk of relapse,surgery and hospitalization,and are associated with perianal fistulae closure.These drugs might be able to change the natural history of the disease mainly when introduced early in the course of the disease.Treatment strategy in inflammatory bowel diseases should thus be tailored according to the risk that each patient could develop disabling disease.

Do clinical factors help to predict disease course in inflammatory bowel disease?

While therapeutic strategies able to change the natural history of the disease are developing,it is of major importance to have available predictive factors for aggressive disease to try and target these therapeutic strategies.Clinical predictors have probably been the most broadly studied.In both Crohn's disease(CD) and ulcerative colitis(UC),age at diagnosis,disease location and smoking habit are currently the strongest predictors of disease course.A younger age at onset is associated with more aggressive disease both in CD and UC.Disease location in CD is associated with different types of complications:surgery and recurrence in upper gastrointestinal and proximal small bowel disease;and surgery in distal small bowel disease and peri-anal lesions in rectal disease.In UC,extensive colitis is clearly been associated with more severe disease.Finally,active smoking globally increases disease severity in CD but decreases it in UC.Besides these important factors,others may predispose to some specific disease evolution and complications,and are also reviewed in the present paper.