Inflammatory bowel disease and pregnancy

Upalne bolesti crijeva često zahvaćaju žene generativne dobi. Često se postavlja pitanje utjecaja trudnoće na prirodni tijek bolesti, utjecaja same bolesti na tijek i ishod trudnoće te sigurnosti primjene lijekova u trudnoći. Žene s upalnom bolesti crijeva u pravilu mogu očekivati normalan tijek trudnoće te rađanje zdravog novorođenčeta. Aktivnost bolesti prilikom koncepcije najvažniji je čimbenik koji utječe na tijek i ishod trudnoće. Terapija koja se uobičajeno koristi za liječenje upalnih bolesti crijeva sigurna je za primjenu u trudnoći. Na temelju prikaza slučaja bolesnice s prvom manifestacijom ulceroznog kolitisa u trudnoći prikazati ćemo utjecaj bolesti na tijek i ishod trudnoće, utjecaj trudnoće na prirodni tijek bolesti te sigurnost primjene lijekova za liječenje upalnih bolesti crijeva u trudnoći.Inflammatory bowel diseases often affect women during their reproductive age. The questions regarding the effect of pregnancy on the natural course of inflammatory bowel disease, effect of inflammatory bowel disease on the course and outcome of pregnancy and safety of medications used to treat inflammatory bowel disease during pregnancy arise quite often. In general, women with inflammatory bowel disease can expect to have a normal pregnancy with delivery of a healthy newborn. The most important factor influencing the effect of disease on the course of pregnancy is disease activity at conception. Medications routinely used for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases can be used safely during pregnancy. Acase of first presentation of ulcerative colitis in pregnancy is presented with review of disease course during pregnancy, influence of disease on pregnancy course and outcome and safety of medications used to treat inflammatory bowel diseases during pregnancy

Biomarkers in chronic graft-versus-host disease: quo vadis?

Biomarkers are increasingly used for diagnosis and treatment of transplant-related complications including the first biomarker-driven interventional trials of acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). In contrast, the development of biomarkers of chronic GvHD (cGvHD) has lagged behind due to a broader variety of manifestations, overlap with acute GvHD, a greater variation in time to onset and maximum severity, and lack of sufficient patient numbers within prospective trials. An international workshop organized by a North-American and European consortium was held in Marseille in March 2017 with the goal to discuss strategies for future biomarker development to guide cGvHD therapy. As a result of this meeting, two areas were prioritized: the development of prognostic biomarkers for subsequent onset of moderate/severe cGvHD, and in parallel, the development of qualified clinical-grade assays for biomarker quantification. The most promising prognostic serum biomarkers are CXCL9, ST2, matrix metalloproteinase-3, osteopontin, CXCL10, CXCL11, and CD163. Urine-proteomics and cellular subsets (CD4+ T-cell subsets, NK cell subsets, and CD19+CD21low B cells) represent additional potential prognostic biomarkers of cGvHD. A joint effort is required to verify the results of numerous exploratory trials before any of the potential candidates is ready for validation and subsequent clinical application

Chronic gvhd dictionary—eurograft cost action initiative consensus report

Chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD) affects patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT). This orphan disease poses a challenge for clinicians and researchers. The purpose of the cGVHD Dictionary is to provide a standardized structure for cGVHD databases on an international level, reconciling differences in data retrieval and facilitate database merging. It is derived from several consensus meetings of the EUROGRAFT consortium (European Cooperation in Science and Technology—COST Action CA17138) followed by a consensus process involving European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), US GvHD consortium and Center for International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry (CIBMTR). Databases used for the dictionary were: the National Institutes of Health (NIH) database, the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, Applying Biomarkers to Minimize Long Term Effects of Childhood/Adolescent Cancer Treatment - Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium database, EBMT registry, the German-Austrian-Swiss GvHD registry, Italian Blood and Marrow Transplantation Society registry and Regensburg-Göttingen-Newcastle HSCT dataset. A four-part cGVHD Dictionary was formed based on the databases, consensus, and evidence in the literature. The Dictionary is divided into: (1) Patient characteristics, (2) Transplant characteristics, (3) cGVHD characteristics and (4) patient-reported quality of life, symptom burden and functional indicators

Extracorporeal photopheresis as an immunomodulatory treatment modality for chronic GvHD and the importance of emerging biomarkers

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the treatment of choice for malignant haematological diseases. Despite continuous improvements in pre- and post-transplantation procedures, the applicability of allo-HSCT is limited by life-threatening complications such as graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), engraftment failure, and opportunistic infections. Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) is used to treat steroid resistant GvHD with significant success. However, the molecular mechanisms driving its immunomodulatory action, whilst preserving immune function, require further understanding. As ECP is safe to administer with few significant adverse effects, it has the potential for earlier use in the post-HSCT treatment of GvHD. Thus, further understanding the immunomodulatory mechanisms of ECP action may justify more timely use in clinical practice, as well as identify biomarkers for using ECP as first line or pre-emptive GvHD therapy. This review aims to discuss technical aspects and response to ECP, review ECP as an immunomodulatory treatment modality for chronic GvHD including the effect on regulatory T cells and circulating vs. tissue-resident immune cells and consider the importance of emerging biomarkers for ECP response