Journal of Crohn's & colitis
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The health impacts of air pollution have received much attention and have recently been subject to extensive study. Exposure to air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM) has been linked to lung and cardiovascular disease and increases in both hospital admissions and mortality. However, little attention has been given to the effects of air pollution on the intestine. ⋯ Plausible mechanisms mediating the effects of air pollutants on the bowel could include direct effects on epithelial cells, systemic inflammation and immune activation, and modulation of the intestinal microbiota. Although there is limited epidemiologic evidence to confirm this, we suggest that a link between air pollution and intestinal disease exists and warrants further study. This link may explain, at least in part, how environmental factors impact on IBD epidemiology and disease pathogenesis.
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Multicenter Study
Conception and pregnancy outcome in women with inflammatory bowel disease: A multicentre study from Japan.
Neither conceptions and pregnancy outcomes nor the safety of medications for childbearing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients has been investigated in Asia. The aim of this study is to analyse conception and pregnancy outcomes of Japanese female IBD patients. ⋯ In Japanese UC patients, conception and pregnancy outcomes after disease onset were comparable to the outcomes observed prior to disease onset, whereas CD appeared to be associated with adverse outcomes. Caesarean operation and LBW were more frequently observed in CD patients who had a history of surgery for perianal lesions and bowel resection.