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The aims of this study were to investigate the clinical and colonoscopic characteristics of patients with intestinal Behçet's disease and to compare the findings of typical and atypical intestinal Behçet's disease. Ninety-four patients diagnosed as having intestinal Behçet's disease were included. Of these, we considered 42 patients as having complete or incomplete type; these fulfilled the international criteria as "typical," and the other 52 patients were classified as having "atypical" intestinal Behçet's disease. Abdominal pain was the most common symptom (92%), followed by diarrhea and gastrointestinal bleeding. All of the 22 patients with a history of surgery had ulcers at the anastomotic site. Most of the patients, who had never been operated on, had lesions in the ileocecal area (96%). Sixty-three patients (67%) had a single ulcer. Many (76%) of the ulcers were larger than 1 cm, and the mean size of the ulcers was 2.9 cm. Most (99%) of the ulcers were round/oval or geographic in shape. Usually ulcers were deep (62%), and their margins discrete (80%). There was no difference in the endoscopic findings of typical and atypical intestinal Behçet's disease. Typical colonoscopic findings in intestinal Behçet's disease were single or a few deep ulcers with discrete margins in the ileocecal area or anastomotic site. Endoscopic characteristics of patients with intestinal involvement in the case of "suspect" or "possible" type of Behçet's disease that lack the systemic manifestations of Behçet's disease were in accord with those in "complete" or "incomplete" types of Behçet's disease, who fulfill the International Study Group for Behçet's Disease criteria.

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a rare disease of unknown etiology. It is characterized by eosinophilic infiltration of the bowel wall to a variable depth and symptoms associated with gastrointestinal tract. Recently, the authors experienced a case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis presenting as small bowel obstruction. A 51-year old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of abdominal pain and vomiting. Physical examination revealed a distended abdomen with diffuse tenderness. Complete blood count showed mild leukocytosis without eosinophilia. Computed tomography confirmed a dilatation of the small intestine with ascites. An emergency laparotomy was performed for a diagnosis of peritonitis due to intestinal obstruction. Segmental resection of the ileum and end to end anastomosis were performed. Histologically, there was a dense infiltration of eosinophils throughout the entire thickness of ileal wall and eosinophilic enteritis was diagnosed. The patient recovered well, and was free from gastrointestinal symptoms at the time when we reported her disease.

This study primarily focused on the anti-metastatic activity of doxorubicin (DOX) loaded in a pHsensitive mixed polymeric micelle formed from two block polymers: poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) (Mn 3000)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) (Mn 2000)-folate and poly(L-histidine) (PHis) (Mn 4700)-b-PEG (Mn 2000). Tumor formation and metastasis in mice were examined using a murine mammary carcinoma cell of 4T1 which is one of the most aggressive metastatic cancer cell lines. The efficacy was evaluated by tumor size, body weight change, survival rate, dorsal skin fold window chamber model, and histological observation of the lung, heart, liver and spleen after treatment with various DOX formulations. When the tumor reached 50-100 mm 3 in size, the mice were treated by 4 times at a 3-day interval at a dose of 10 mg DOX/kg. The mixed micelle formulation resulted in retarded tumor growth, no weight loss, and no death for 4-5 weeks. In another set of the in vivo test for histological evaluation of the organs, the mice were similarly treated but the formulations were injected one day after 4T1 cell inoculation. The treatment by DOX loaded mixed micelle showed no apparent metastasis till 28 days. However, significant metastasis to the lung and heart was observed on Day 28 when the mice were treated with DOX carried by PBS, PLLA-b-PEG micelle and PHis-b-PEG micelle.