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World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2014; 20(13): 3507-3515
Published online Apr 7, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i13.3507
Glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus in ulcerative colitis: Pathogenetic and therapeutic implications
Giovanni Maconi, Federica Furfaro, Roberta Sciurti, Cristina Bezzio, Sandro Ardizzone, Roberto de Franchis
Giovanni Maconi, Federica Furfaro, Roberta Sciurti, Cristina Bezzio, Sandro Ardizzone, Roberto de Franchis, Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, “Luigi Sacco” University Hospital, 20157 Milano, Italy
Author contributions: Maconi G contributed to conception and design, literature search, manuscript preparation and editing; Furfaro F and Sciurti R literature search, manuscript preparation and editing; Bezzio C, Ardizzone S and de Franchis R contributed to critical revision and editing; all authors gave the final approval of the version; Maconi G is the guarantor of the article.
Correspondence to: Giovanni Maconi, MD, Professor, Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, “Luigi Sacco” University Hospital, Via G.B. Grassi, 74, 20157 Milano, Italy. giovanni.maconi@unimi.it
Telephone: +39-02-39043164
Received: October 20, 2013
Revised: January 26, 2014
Accepted: March 6, 2014
Published online: April 7, 2014
Processing time: 166 Days and 10 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: The relationship between ulcerative colitis and diabetes mellitus is intriguing, full of practical and speculative information, useful for clinical practice and basic research. Diabetes mellitus is one of the most frequent co-morbidities of ulcerative colitis and their epidemiological association suggests genetic sharing and stimulates studies for gene identification. Diabetes also shares specific complications with ulcerative colitis and represents a challenging condition in ulcerative colitis patients for the treatment of the disease, due to difficult control of glucose levels and for high risk of postoperative complications and pouch failure. All these issues have been discussed in the present review.