Objectives: A rising trend of incidence and prevalence of ulcerative colitis (UC) had been noticed in Asian countries. We conducted this study to investigate the epidemiology and medical burden of UC in Taiwan. Methods: In this 10-year retrospective database study, we identified cases of patients with UC during 1998 to 2008 from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients w...

The activation of a self-amplifying cascade of caspases, of which caspase-8 is the apical protease, mediates Fas-, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-, and TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis in colon cell lines. Nitric oxide (NO) protects from apoptosis induced by Fas and TNF-alpha. We examined whether NCX-456, an NO-releasing derivative of mesalamine, protects colon...

Introduction: Derivatives of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-AsA) as claversal® used for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease may induce acute pancreatitis both orally as topically. Mesalazine is the only treatment used in our environment within the compounds of 5-AsA, due to other molecules not being available. It is available for both oral and topical, being topical form highly relevant consi...

External beam radiotherapy to the pelvis is related with the development of radiation colitis, a consequence of radiationinduced mucosal and bowel wall injury. Although in recent years radiation techniques have improved, radiation toxicity remains a significant clinical problem resulting in treatment delays, increased patient hospitalization rates and remarkable shortand long-term morbidity [1]...

The aim of this study was to investigate the combined influence of 3 independent variables in the compression coated tablet of mesalamine for ulcerative colitis. A 3-factor, 3-level Box-Behnken design was used to derive a second order polynomial equation and construct contour plots to predict responses. The independent variables selected were: percentage of polymers (pectin and compritol ATO 88...

A 45-year-old female patient with a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis complicated with composite lymphoma in the spleen and para-aortic lymph node presented with a one-month history of malaise, weakness and fatigue. Only mesalamine kept ulcerative colitis under control. In physical examination, splenomegaly was revealed and pancytopenia was obtained from laboratory data. Computed tomography scan ...