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Background and Objective: Celiac is a hereditary disease presented with chronic inflammation of small intestine. Several studies supposed a relationship between Celiac disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Tissue trans-glutaminase antibody is one of the best serological markers in Celiac disease. This study was designed to evaluate the association of Celiac and IBD using tissue trans-glutaminase antibody. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study 127 confirmed IBD patients who were referred by gastroentrologists 2005-08 enrolled into the study. A questionnaire was completed and tissue trans-glutaminase antibody was evaluated with ELISA method with a Cut-off=12 U/ml. Results: Among 127 referred patients, serum samples of 102 patients were collected. Mean±SD of age was 36.17±15.2 years and 48% were males. Ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and other colitis were observed in 76 (74.5%), 7 (6.9%) and 19 (18.6%) of patients, respectively. Tissue trans-glutaminase antibody was positive (19.8 U/L) in one 46-years-old male patient with ulcerative colitis. Conclusion: Tissue trans-glutaminase antibody titer was not significantly different between IBD patients and controls, thus it seems not appropriate to suggest as one of the routine tests in IBD patients.

One significant drawback of existing bioprinted tissues is their lack of shelf-availability caused by complications in both fabrication and storage. Here, we report a cryobioprinting strategy for simultaneously fabricating and storing cell-laden volumetric tissue constructs through seamlessly combining extrusion bioprinting and cryopreservation. The cryobioprinting performance was investigated by designing, fabricating, and storing cell-laden constructs made of our optimized cryoprotective gelatin-based bioinks using a freezing plate with precisely controllable temperature. The in situ freezing process further promoted the printability of cell-laden hydrogel bioinks to achieve freeform structures otherwise inconvenient with direct extrusion bioprinting. The effects of bioink composition on printability and cell viability were evaluated. The functionality of the method was finally investigated using cell differentiation and chick ex ovo assays. The results confirmed the feasibility and efficacy of cryobioprinting as a single-step method for concurrent tissue biofabrication and storage., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests The authors declare no competing interests.

Background: One of the most important complications in inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are musculoskeletal manifestations that are reported in more than 50% of patients., Objectives: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the musculoskeletal and radiologic manifestations in our IBD patients., Methods: In this cross-sectional study on 96 mild-to-moderate IBD patients (76 UC, 18 CD and 2 undifferentiated IBD) with mean (SD) age of 39.28 (11.42) years, 44 (45.8%) were males and 52 were (54.2%) females. Patients were examined by an expert rheumatologist and their musculoskeletal symptoms were assessed. The musculoskeletal system was evaluated by Modified Schober test, Thoracic expansion (TE), Occiput to wall distance (OWD), and Patrick's or FABER test. Peripheral joints were also examined in all four extremities. Then patients were referred for pelvic and lumbosacral x-ray. Sacroiliitis grading was performed using the New York criteria., Results: Inflammatory low back pain was reported in 5 (5.2%), enthesopathy in 6 (6.5%) and dactylitis in 1 (1.1%). Positive Schober test was recorded in 5 (5.2%) and Patrick test in 3 (3.1%). Forty-nine (51%) cases had normal imaging with no sacroiliitis, endplate sclerosis was seen in 33 cases (34.4%), grade 3 and grade 4 were seen in 10 cases (10.4%)., Conclusions: In the present study, 34.4% of the IBD patients had mild radiologic changes as endplate sclerosis and 95% had a normal physical examination., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

BACKGROUND There is a critical role for trace elements in cancer prevention. Since northeast Iran is known as a high risk area for esophageal cancer, this study was designed to compare the serum levels of some trace elements in high and low rate areas of Golestan province. METHODS We used 240 fasting serum samples obtained in 2011 from eastern and western parts of Golestan province during the non-communicable diseases' screening program. To carry out laboratory examinations, the samples were firstly deproteinated and then the concentrations of the intended elements were measured by an atomic absorption spectrometer. A total of 227 samples were used in the present study and the remaining 13 samples were excluded due to inappropriate conditions. RESULTS The mean serum level of zinc in the high-risk region was significantly lower than that in the low-risk region. But no significant difference was detected in serum levels of copper, magnesium, and manganese in the low-risk and high-risk regions. CONCLUSION As this study was an ecological study with no comparison between patients with cancer and healthy population, its results cannot be used for the general population. Therefore, complementary studies including case-control studies are suggested for further evaluation of the relationship between these elements and the incidence of esophageal cancer., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this work.

BACKGROUND Different clinical and epidemiological studies using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry have shown an increased prevalence of low bone mineral density in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between bone density and the disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 52 patients with ulcerative colitis (duration of the disease less than 5 years) were invited to our research center, Golestan province, northeast of Iran, during February 2012 up to August 2012. A demographic checklist and Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index was completed for each patients and 5 cc of blood sample was taken after obtaining the informed consent. We used colorimetry method for measuring serum calcium, UV method for serum phosphorus and ELISA for serum vitamin D. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was done to evaluate the bone density. Data analysis was done using SPSS software version 16. Normality of data was assessed using Kolmogorov- Smirnov test. T and ANOVA tests were used if data had normal distribution. Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for the remaining data. Correlation between qualitative variables was evaluated by Chi-square test. RESULTS The mean (±SD) age and disease activity of the patients were 37.72 (±12.18) years and 4.78 (±1.98), respectively. There were no correlation between disease activity and mean age. Low bone density was seen in 30.8%, 11.5%, and 15.4% in spine, femur neck, and hip, respectively. There was no relationship between Z-score of total hip, spine, and femur neck with disease activity, age, and duration of disease (p>0.05). CONCLUSION Our results showed an acceptable rate of low bone density in patients with ulcerative colitis without any correlation with the disease activity index.