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©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 21, 2007; 13(15): 2150-2152
Published online Apr 21, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i15.2150
Published online Apr 21, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i15.2150
Effect of smoking on inflammatory bowel disease: Is it disease or organ specific?
A Karban, Department of Medicine C, Rambam Health Care Campus, Bruce Rappaport School of Medicine, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
R Eliakim, Department of Gastroenterology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Bruce Rappaport School of Medicine, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: R Eliakim MD, Head, Department of Gastroenterology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Bat Galim, Haifa, 31096, Israel. r_eliakim@rambam.health.gov.il
Telephone: +972-4-8543784 Fax: +972-4-8543058
Received: March 7, 2006
Revised: March 10, 2007
Accepted: March 12, 2007
Published online: April 21, 2007
Revised: March 10, 2007
Accepted: March 12, 2007
Published online: April 21, 2007
Abstract
Smoking is an important environmental factor in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with differing effects in ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Never smoking and formerly smoking increase the risk of UC, whereas smoking exacerbates the course of CD. The potential mechanisms involved in this dual relationship are yet unknown. A reasonable assumption is that smoking has different effects on the small and large intestine. This assumption is based on animal and human studies that show that the effects of smoking/nicotine on CD and UC depend on the site of inflammation and not on the type of disease.
Keywords: Nicotine, Smoking, Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Small bowel, Colon