Among patients who started vedolizumab for active inflammatory bowel disease, clinical remission rates are 21-25% after 54 weeks.

Abundant senile plaques are a histological hallmark in the brain of Alzheimer's disease patients. Such plaques consist of, among many other constituents, aggregated beta A4 amyloid peptide. This peptide is derived from an amyloid precursor protein (APP) by irregular proteolytic processing and is considered to be involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease. To study possible interactions of brain proteins with beta A4 amyloid or other fragments of APP, beta A4 amyloid and beta A4 amyloid extended to the C-terminus of APP were recombinantly produced as fusion proteins termed "Amy" and "AmyC," respectively. Using Amy and AmyC affinity chromatography, a 35-kDa protein from rat brain was isolated that bound tightly to AmyC but not to Amy, thus indicating an interaction of the protein with the C-terminus of APP. This 35-kDa protein was identified as the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Binding of GAPDH to AmyC but not to Amy was confirmed by gel filtration. Although AmyC slightly reduced the Vmax of GAPDH, the same reduction was observed in the presence of Amy. These findings suggest that the interaction of the cytoplasmic domain of APP with GAPDH is unlikely to influence directly the rate of glycolysis but may serve another function.

SUMMARY BackgroundInflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) commonly affect young patients in the reproductive phase of their lives. The chronic and relapsing nature of IBD and the potential need for medical or surgical interventions raise concerns about family planning issues.

Background and aims Physical activity is beneficial in several chronic disorders including Crohn′s disease, but the preferred type of exercise is unknown. Our study aimed to examine and compare the safety, feasibility and potential beneficial effects of individual moderate endurance and moderate muscle training in patients with Crohn’s disease. Methods Quiescent or mildly active (Crohn’s disease activity index <220) patients with Crohn’s disease were randomly allocated to either a control, endurance, or muscle training group. Participants exercised individually for 3 months three times per week. Endpoints included dropout rate, disease activity, inflammatory parameters including faecal calprotectin, anthropometric data, quality of life, physical activity and strength. Results A total of 45 patients with Crohn’s disease were randomly allocated. In the endurance group ( n = 17), the dropout rate was significantly higher (47% vs. 13%) compared with the muscle group ( n = 15). In both groups the maximal and average strength in the upper and lower extremities increased significantly (all P < 0.04). In the endurance group emotional function was significantly improved ( P = 0.03). Statistically significant changes of disease activity and other outcome parameters were not observed in this pilot cohort. Conclusion Both individual moderate endurance and muscle training can be safely performed in patients with mild or quiescent Crohn’s disease. Muscle training appears more feasible and may be favoured. Both forms of exercise have beneficial effects on strength. Quality of life increased in both intervention groups, although statistical significance was only reached in one subgroup.