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Aim: To determine serum vitamin D levels and colonic vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and non-IBD patients and correlate these with histopathology., Methods: Puerto Rican IBD (n = 10) and non-IBD (n = 10) patients ≥ 21 years old scheduled for colonoscopy were recruited. Each patient completed a questionnaire and provided a serum sample and a colonic biopsy of normal-appearing mucosa. For IBD patients, an additional biopsy was collected from visually diseased mucosa. Serum vitamin D levels were measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Hematoxylin and eosin stained tissue sections from colonic biopsies were classified histologically as normal or colitis (active/inactive), and scored for the degree of inflammation present (0-3, inactive/absent to severe). Tissue sections from colonic biopsies were also stained by immunohistochemistry for VDR, for which representative diagnostic areas were photographed and scored for staining intensity using a 4-point scale., Results: The IBD cohort was significantly younger (40.40 ± 5.27, P < 0.05) than the non-IBD cohort (56.70 ± 1.64) with a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (40% vs 20%, respectively) and insufficiency (70% vs 50%, respectively). Histologic inflammation was significantly higher in visually diseased mucosa from IBD patients (1.95 ± 0.25) than in normal-appearing mucosa from control patients (0.25 ± 0.08, P < 0.01) and from IBD patients (0.65 ± 0.36, P < 0.05) and correlated inversely with VDR expression in visually diseased colonic tissue from IBD patients (r = -0.44, P < 0.05) and from IBD patients with Crohn's disease (r = -0.69, P < 0.05), but not in normal-appearing colonic tissue from control patients or IBD patients. Control and IBD patient serum vitamin D levels correlated positively with VDR expression in normal colon from control and IBD patients (r = 0.38, P < 0.05) and with patient age (r = 0.54, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: Levels of serum vitamin D correlate positively with colonic VDR expression in visually normal mucosa whereas inflammation correlates negatively with colonic VDR expression in visually diseased mucosa in Puerto Rican patients.

Objectives: We aimed to determine the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) presence rate in our laboratory's lymphoma tissue biopsies for comparison with that reported in literature., Background: The presence of EBV has been established in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), endemic Burkitt Lymphoma and some non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). It has been linked to geographic, ethnic and socioeconomic factors, with a lower rate in developed countries., Methods: We used the immunoperoxidase technique to determine the rate of the EBV LMP-1 in eighty-seven biopsies diagnosed as lymphoma. Tissue slides were stained using the Ventana Automated Slide Stainer with the DAKO EBV LMP-1 primary antibody and the results were analyzed with the SYSTAT program., Results: We found an LMP-1 positive rate of 50% for 22 cases of HL and 35% for 63 cases of NHL. Among HL, 5 were children and 16 were adults, with LMP-1 positive rates of 60% and 50% respectively. Among NHL, 3 were children and 59 were adults, with equal LMP-1 positive rates of 33%. The sex LMP-1 positive rates for HL were 42% for 12 males and 60% for 10 females. Among NHL, the sex LMP-1 positive rates were 39% for 38 males and 28% for 27 females. NHL was further subdivided into subtypes and LMP-1 primary antibody positive rates were reported., Conclusions: We found a similar presence rate of EBV in the HL biopsies to that of developed countries, but a similar presence rate of EBV in NHL biopsies to that of developing countries.