Background. In inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients there are reports of the occurrence of hepatobiliary manifestations, so the aim of this study was to evaluate the hepatobiliary manifestations in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) from an IBD reference center. Methods. Cross-sectional study in an IBD reference center, with interviews and review of medical charts, between July 2015 and August 2016. A questionnaire addressing epidemiological and clinical characteristics was used. Results. We interviewed 306 patients, and the majority had UC (53.9%) and were female (61.8%). Hepatobiliary manifestations were observed in 60 (19.6%) patients with IBD. In the greater part of the patients (56.7%) hepatobiliary disorders were detected after the diagnosis of IBD. In UC (18.2%) patients, the hepatobiliary disorders identified were 11 (6.7%) non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 9 (5.5%) cholelithiasis, 6 (3.6%) primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), 3 (1.8%) hepatotoxicity associated with azathioprine, 1 (0.6%) hepatitis B, and 1 (0.6%) hepatic fibrosis. In CD (21.3%) patients, 11 (7.8%) had cholelithiasis, 11 (7.8%) non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 4 (2.8%) PSC, 3 (2.1%) hepatotoxicity, 1 (0.7%) hepatitis B, (0.7%) hepatitis C, 1 (0.7%) alcoholic liver disease, and 1 (0.7%) autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). There was one case of PSC/AIH overlap syndrome. Conclusion. The frequency of hepatobiliary disorders was similar in both forms of IBD in patients evaluated. The most common nonspecific hepatobiliary manifestations in IBD patients were non-alcoholic liver disease and cholelithiasis. The most common specific hepatobiliary disorder was PSC in patients with extensive UC or ileocolonic CD involvement; this was seen more frequently in male patients.

BACKGROUND There has been an increase in cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in recent years. There is also greater access and availability of immunosuppressive and biological agents, which increase the risk of opportunistic infection despite improving the quality of life and promoting mucosal healing. Tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health problem, and it has a high incidence in several countries. Therefore, knowledge of the risk of developing TB in patients with IBD is important. AIM To evaluate the risk of active TB in patients with IBD under treatment from an endemic area in Latin America. METHODS A standard questionnaire included demographic variables, clinical aspects of IBD disease, history of active TB during treatment, active TB characteristics and evolution, initial screening and results and time from the start of anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) to TB development. RESULTS Azathioprine, anti-TNFα and the combination of these two drugs were associated with a higher risk of active TB incidence. The TNFα blockers increased the relative risk of developing active TB compared to other treatments. All four multivariable models showed that the use of TNFα blockers alone or in combination with azathioprine was an important risk factor for the incidence of active TB. After adjustment for sex, age, type of IBD and latent TB, anti-TNFα with azathioprine increased the relative risk to 17.8 times more than conventional treatment. Late TB, which was diagnosed 3 mo after the start of anti-TNFα, was the most frequent. CONCLUSION Treatment with anti-TNFα increased the risk of active TB in IBD patients from an endemic area in Latin America. This risk was increased when anti-TNFα was combined with azathioprine. The time from the beginning of the treatment to the active TB diagnosis suggests a new TB infection.

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Background/AimsBone mineral density (BMD) is often low in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). This study aimed to evaluate the association between nutritional factors and BMD in a group of CD patients.MethodsCD patients 18 years of age or older were included. The body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and dietary intake were evaluated during two 24-hour recalls. Bone densitometry was performed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry of the full body to assess body composition and of the lumbar vertebrae and femoral neck to assess BMD.ResultsIn the 60 patients evaluated, there was no association between BMD and disease activity or between BMD and disease duration. We observed moderate correlations between BMD in at least one of the evaluated sites and BMI, lean mass, WC, and protein, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium dietary intakes (P<0.05). In the linear regression analysis for spinal BMD, only BMI and calcium dietary intake remained associated (P<0.05). In the linear regression analysis for femoral BMD, WC and phosphorus intake continued to be significant in the final model, although they had low explanatory power for BMD (P<0.05).ConclusionsThe prevalence of low BMD was high in CD patients. BMI, WC, calcium and phosphorus dietary intake were positively correlated with BMD.